At Camp McMurdo, the largest scientific expedition in Antarctica, Liz Monahon (Liz Monahon) mechanic holds a hammer.
Monahon said that if the administrator refuses to protect him, he must protect himself from the people who killed him. He couldn't escape, he was trapped in the ice. Monahon decided to carry the hammer with him, either hiding it in his clothes or tucking it into a sports bra.
"If he came to me, I would throw a hammer at him. I decided I had to live. ”
In isolation, machismo prevails in Antarctica, where sexual violence and harassment are rampant. A report released last year by the National Science Foundation showed that 59 percent of female families in Antarctica said they had been sexually assaulted or assaulted, and 72 percent had thought there was trouble in Antarctica. Monahon, 35, is one of them.
The National Science Foundation report sparked a congressional investigation. Leidos, the prime contractor for the U.S. Antarctic project, responded in late 2022 that the company had received no allegations of sexual violence in the five years to 2022 (but that doesn't match "this claim seen in the media"). The company also said it will install peepholes in bedroom doors to improve visibility, limit the use of large keys that open multiple rooms and equip field teams with additional satellite phones.
One California lawmaker was shocked, saying, "We should have done this before we sent people to Antarctica." ”
By examining court records and internal communications, and interviewing current and former Antarctic staff, U.S. media discovered that the problem was more than just sexual harassment. Some respondents said there were "fewer users" reporting sexual harassment or assault, making victims and other women more dangerous. For example, a woman reported harassment by a colleague but was told to continue working with the perpetrator; Women who reported sexual assault were removed from their posts; One victim said her employer simplified her rape allegations to sexual harassment.
Monahon believes he was able to escape physical injury in Antarctica thanks to the safety of his colleagues, not the government.
Before arriving in Antarctica in 2021, Monahon hid in a hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand. There she met Zach Buckingham. Boxer and romance fighter Buckingham from New Zealand sits next to him and his friends, protecting them from harassment by their teammates.
Buckingham looks "a little wild, but funny and cute" and Monahon and Buckingham start dating – but what they don't know is that Buckingham has a criminal record in New Zealand. He violated a court-ordered protective order and sent more than a dozen harassing messages. A former colleague. Antarctica is an ideal place for scientists. Ancient ice and its remote location make it invaluable for studying many topics such as the origin of the universe and climate change. The McMurdo Research Station is the center of U.S. Antarctic activity. In winter, 200-300 people stay, and in summer, it increases to more than 1,000. About 70% are men. McMurdo has no prison or police, and enforcement is handled by the U.S. Marshals Service.
With limited social options on snowy days, McMurdo's two main bars are where crowds gather: Southern Exposure or Gallagher's.
Both bars had no windows, and the smell of people's corpses mingled with the smell of aged beer that had seeped into the floor for decades. In summer, the sun shines all day in Antarctica, and people walk out of the bar and are amazed by the bright sunshine.
One night, at an open bar in the south, Buckingham began laughing with his brothers about who he and his friends would sleep with, Monahon said. The second time, he got into an argument with a man. Since then, Monahon has repeatedly refused to speak to Buckingham, who later heard that Buckingham was "very angry" with him.
Monahon expressed his security concerns to the company that hired Buckingham PAE, but took no action. A week later, in a restaurant, Buckingham ran up to her, shaking with anger.
"You keep saying bad things about your mother! Anyone who speaks ill of mom deserves to die! Buckingham yelled at him. Monahon was shocked and confused. When others tried to stop him, Buckingham shouted: "The whistleblower's mouth will be sewn up!" ”
Restaurant bartender Cameron Daly-Rudy witnessed the riot. He fired everyone except Monahon and called the police and called the station manager and PAE HR. Call. Rudy said: "He is going after this man and it is an open secret. He added that Buckingham spent most of his time in pubs and sometimes publicly harassed women.
Monahon said the manager's response was to take him to the back room and tell him he didn't have to go to work the next day — the last time he had support from management.
Liz Monahon (played by Liz Monahon)
After spending the night in his new room, Monahon met with Michel Izzy, a representative of PAE's personnel department. He said Izzy advised him not to report the incident to U.S. Marshals because Buckingham is a New Zealand citizen and could raise legal issues and even international disputes. Izzy also said he should carefully consider the implications of his allegations and the U.S. mission to Antarctica. But Izzy denied Monahon's claims in a later recording, saying he actually had a motive to call security guards. Bartender Rudy said Buckingham returned to the bar the next day and got into an argument with a man. Rudy said PAE had not taken action against Buckingham and "I'm not surprised". "Such an outcome seems inevitable given the scientific research center's attitude towards the protection of women and sexual harassment and the gender-neutral culture."
Meanwhile, Monahon picked up the hammer. In a statement to PAE, she wrote: "Zach Buckingham is a danger to me. He threatened my life. He knows how to hurt me, he wants to hurt me... For the past two days, I have lived in a panic. ”
In response to Buckingham's threat, Monahon's superiors and colleagues developed their own plans. Monahon was told to pack his bags and join a team the next morning that would try to traverse the ice over the course of eight days to revive the tiny American base. The mission is dangerous because the Antarctic ice could collapse in the spring.
"They put him in danger to protect him," said Wes Thurman, director of the Antarctic Fire Department. But everyone thought it was safer than keeping him at McMurdo.
Thurman has been working in Antarctica since 2012. He recalled learning about celibacy culture in Antarctica when he witnessed a group of men making "a list of sexually targeted women they wanted." The National Science Foundation and Antarctica staff often blame alcohol for similar behavior, but they do not prohibit staff from drinking alcohol because it could make working in Antarctica unattractive.
In March 2022, Buckingham was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and 10 months of supervised release for breaching a protective order against a former partner. However, he never faced legal action or punishment for the Antarctica incident.
Monahon's experience is not unique in Antarctica. In November 2019, the National Science Foundation investigated another allegation in which a female food worker alleged she sexually assaulted a co-worker. Later, he was criticized by a supervisor who "happened" to be a friend of the attacker. Two months later, the female employee was fired.
The incident sparked outrage from the victims' colleagues, some of whom emailed Denver's leadership to express their concerns, only to receive a response asking them to "stay where they are." Stay calm and neutral, because you only hear what he says".
The incident prompted some female supporters to form their own support group, the Ice Alliance. More than 300 people have signed a petition calling for a better sexual assault system.
Another food manager, Jennifer Sorenson, told reporters she was raped in McMurdo in 2015. At first she didn't tell anyone, but nearly two years later she still hasn't told anyone. He can let it pass. He wrote to GHG, the company of the perpetrators, to tell them what had happened. The company responded that it was investigating Leidos' allegations and that the man would be fired. "We have come to the conclusion that you are a victim of sexual harassment," the greenhouse gas chairman wrote. Sorensen said he thought this "downplay" of rape was shameful.
Jennifer Sorenson
Britt Baquist is the foreman of the fuel department. He told reporters that while attending a peace ceremony in 2017, an elderly man sneaked up on him and stabbed him in the thigh. "That hand was on my inner thigh, so close that it felt like it was supporting my hips."
Balqvist's supervisor at the time witnessed the incident and reported it to his superiors. As a result, the man was removed from the joint program and ordered to avoid contact with Barqvist. However, after returning to Antarctica in 2021, Balquist was forced to work with the man again.
"It's embarrassing and scary," he said. "I try not to make eye contact with him or ignore him at all. Eventually he talked to me about something and I just wanted to get out. ”
When Barquist returned to Antarctica last year, he left McMurdo to work with his wife at a small satellite station. "I wish I was safer."
Britt Baqvist
(Author: Ah Qian)