Sexual Harassment and Violence in the Practice of Anthropology: Creating Safe Conversational Spaces for CASCA Members

Abstract

The Canadian Anthropology Society is working to address sexualharassment and violence at institutional and community-based settings whereanthropologists undertake their work. In 2021, the newly formed SexualHarassment and Violence Working Group held a roundtable at the CASCAconference to start a conversation about sexual violence among CASCAmembers and to workshop best practices to prevent, disrupt, and respondto incidents of sexual harassment and violence that CASCA members mayexperience or observe. Here, the Working Group summarizes the process ofplanning, implementing, and following up the roundtable, focusing on specificactions taken by the organizers to ensure a safe conversational space before,during, and after the event. We demonstrate how the roundtable aligns withinthe larger framework of CASCA’s institutional history and future. The goalof this report is to provide a framework for convening difficult conversationsin professional settings, especially in an online environment. We providerecommendations to this end, and emphasize the need to hold furtherconversations to combat the air of silence that remains, even in a post-#MeTooworld, surrounding sexual violence in anthropology.