“Who wears the trousers?”: Sexual harassment in research settings

Abstract

This article draws upon the experiences of four women in Glasgow (The Researching AIDS Women's Group -RAW) who were involved in four different studies about HIV-related risk behaviours. Field research was conducted in a number of research settings and included asking respondents about details of their sexual behaviour. On a number of occasions this was viewed as ‘provocative’ by male heterosexual respondents and led to overt or covert sexual harassment. This article collates some of these experiences and the strategies we developed to deal with them. Comparing our experiences with other fieldworkers we conclude that the combination of a ‘sexy’ subject matter, in-depth interviewing, and our age and gender and that of our respondents made us particularly vulnerable to being sexually harassed during fieldwork, but that all fieldworkers are potentially vulnerable. We therefore urge that safety of field workers be given greater consideration.