National science foundation grant awardees' perspectives on Article X and sexual harassment in science.

Federal scientific agencies seek to make an impact on the continued prevalence of sexual harassment in the scientific academic community beyond institutional self-regulation. The National Science Foundation's Article X, released in 2018, is one of the most significant and ambitious federal policy initiatives to address sexual harassment. The present article presents the results of the first study to examine scientists' knowledge and attitudes about this important recent policy. We found, although overall knowledge about Article X was fairly low, the majority of participants responded positively to it. Crucially, impressions of the policy varied based on past experience and demographic factors. Individuals who had experienced harassment in the past year were less likely to believe the policy would help reduce sexual harassment in the sciences compared to those who had not experienced harassment (OR = 0.47, 95% CI:0.23-0.97, p = .034) and had greater odds of endorsing that the policy failed to go far enough (OR = 2.77, 95% CI:1.15-6.66, p = .023). Associations between demographic factors and views of the policy were less pronounced, but it is notable that, compared to their White counterparts, Black participants were more likely to believe the policy went too far (OR = 5.87, 95% CI:1.04-33.17, p = .045). Additionally, concerns were raised about the institutional enforcement of these policies and the existence of sufficient protections for survivors. Our work has implications for NSF's continued evaluation of the efficacy of this program as well as for other federal agencies implementing or considering similar policies.

The Saturation- and Dose-Dependent Effects of a Teen Sexual Harassment Prevention Program: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Using a randomized controlled trial, we investigated changes in both sexual harassment (SH) perpetration and victimization of 2104 middle school students in New York City who received divergent saturation and dosage levels of Shifting Boundaries, an SH prevention program, which was represented by the length of the program. We assessed the saturation effect of the program by comparing the outcomes across respondents from 26 schools in which there were varying percentages of students enrolled in the program. The data suggested that, overall, the program was effective in reducing sexual harassment victimization but achieved a null effect against respondents' SH perpetration and that neither the length nor the school-saturation level of the program exerted a significant effect on SH perpetration. Although the data indicated a significant difference in SH victimization between the treatment and control group, when comparing subgroups who received treatment with divergent saturation and dosage levels, no statistically significant difference was identified. Our results suggested that the program effect was not contingent on the portion of students in a school who enrolled in the program, nor was it contingent on the dosage.

Can Virtual Reality be Used for the Prevention of Peer Sexual Harassment in Adolescence? First Evaluation of the Virtual-PRO Program.

Objective: The present study analyzed the Virtual-PRO program's efficacy in preventing peer sexual harassment by promoting the bystanders' active intervention and incorporating a virtual reality (VR) component. The impact of the program on sexist attitudes, moral disengagement, the intention to intervene as bystanders, and the involvement in sexual aggression and victimization was tested. Method: Virtual-PRO is a VR-enhanced sexual harassment curricular prevention program of six one-hour sessions. The evaluation comprised a pre-test, a post-test after the intervention, and a follow-up measure at three months. In the study, 579 Spanish adolescent students aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.76, SD = 0.88; 47.1% boys) were randomly grouped into experimental (n = 286) and control (n = 293) conditions. Results: The Virtual-PRO program effectively controlled participants' levels of sexism and reduced moral disengagement in the experimental group compared to the control group three months after the intervention. The program also showed positive results in changing bystander behavior, increasing the intention to intervene when the victim was not a friend. Finally, visual/verbal and online victimization decreased in the experimental group and increased in the control group. No differences were found for physical sexual victimization and sexual aggression. Conclusions: The first trial of the Virtual-PRO program is promising and highlights the use of VR as a sexual harassment prevention tool. Follow-up measures are essential to determine the impact of interventions accurately.

Objetivo: El presente estudio analiza la eficacia del programa Virtual-PRO en la prevención del acoso sexual entre iguales promoviendo la intervención activa de los espectadores mediante el uso de la realidad virtual (RV). Se comprobó el impacto del programa en las actitudes sexistas, la desconexión moral, la intención de intervenir como espectadores y la implicación en agresión y victimización sexual. Método: Virtual-PRO es un programa curricular compuesto por seis unidades que incorpora la RV para mejorar la prevención del acoso sexual. La evaluación incluyó una medida pre-test, un post-test después de la intervención y una medida de seguimiento a los tres meses. En el estudio participaron 579 estudiantes españoles de entre 12 y 17 años (M = 14.76, DT = 0.88, 47.1% chicos), agrupados aleatoriamente en grupo experimental (n = 286) y control (n = 293). Resultados: El programa Virtual-PRO controló eficazmente los niveles de sexismo y redujo la desconexión moral en el grupo experimental en comparación con el grupo de control tres meses después de la intervención. También mostró resultados positivos en el cambio del comportamiento de los espectadores, mejorando la intención de intervenir cuando la víctima no era amigo o amiga. Por último, la victimización visual/verbal y online disminuyó en el grupo experimental y aumentó en el grupo control. No se encontraron diferencias en victimización sexual física y agresión sexual. Conclusiones: El primer ensayo del programa Virtual-PRO es prometedor y pone de relieve el uso de la RV como herramienta eficaz para la prevención del acoso sexual. Las medidas de seguimiento son esenciales para determinar con precisión el efecto de las intervenciones.

Beyond reporting: proactive strategies for safer scientific fieldwork.

Fieldwork is crucial for science but poses heightened risks of gender-based harassment and assault. Current practices prioritize post-incident reporting, despite the demonstrated potential of preventive approaches. We recommend proactive practices, training strategies, and systemic policy changes to build safe and inclusive fieldwork settings from the outset.

Testing the effectiveness of interactive training on sexual harassment and assault in field science.

Fieldwork is a critical tool for scientific research, particularly in applied disciplines. Yet fieldwork is often unsafe, especially for members of historically marginalized groups and people whose presence in scientific spaces threatens traditional hierarchies of power, authority, and legitimacy. Research is needed to identify interventions that prevent sexual harassment and assault from occurring in the first place. We conducted a quasi-experiment assessing the impacts of a 90-min interactive training on field-based staff in a United States state government agency. We hypothesized that the knowledge-based interventions, social modeling, and mastery experiences included in the training would increase participants' sexual harassment and assault prevention knowledge, self-efficacy, behavioural intention, and behaviour after the training compared to a control group of their peers. Treatment-control and pre-post training survey data indicate that the training increased participants' sexual harassment and assault prevention knowledge and prevention self-efficacy, and, to a lesser extent, behavioural intention. These increases persisted several months after the training for knowledge and self-efficacy. While we did not detect differences in the effect of the training for different groups, interestingly, post-hoc tests indicated that women and members of underrepresented racial groups generally scored lower compared to male and white respondents, suggesting that these groups self-assess their own capabilities differently. Finally, participants' likelihood to report incidents increased after the training but institutional reports remained low, emphasizing the importance of efforts to transform reporting systems and develop better methods to measure bystander actions. These results support the utility of a peer-led interactive intervention for improving workplace culture and safety in scientific fieldwork settings. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: "The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on August 24, 2022. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21770165 .

Prevalence and Impact of Workplace Sexual Harassment Experienced by Medical Sonographers.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and impact of sexual harassment among a nationwide sample of medical sonographers. METHODS: A survey was distributed anonymously to a convenience sample of medical sonographers via email contacts and sonographer-specific social media pages. Data were analyzed to determine respondent demographics, the prevalence of sexual harassment in the last 2 years, the type and severity of harassment experienced, demographics of perpetrators, personal and institutional responses to such experiences, and the impact of sexual harassment on sonographer physical and mental health and job satisfaction. RESULTS: Of the 220 sonographers (83% female) most (45%) were between 18 and 34 years and identified as white (81%). A total of 192 (87%) reported experiencing at least 1 incident of harassment within the last 2 years. Female respondents experienced higher harassment rates (76%) compared to males (50%, P = .02). The most common forms of harassment were verbal, including suggestive or sexist jokes (69%) and offensive sexist remarks (61%). Perpetrators were predominantly male (78%) and most commonly patients (89%) or their friends/family members (46%). The majority of respondents either ignored the harassing behavior (70%) or treated it like a joke (50%), with only a minority (12%) officially reporting incidents. Of those who reported, 44% were unsatisfied with their institution's response. Among respondents, 34% reported negative impacts of workplace sexual harassment, such as anxiety, depression, sleep loss, or adverse workplace consequences. DISCUSSION: Workplace sexual harassment is a common occurrence for sonographers and often leads to negative health and career outcomes. Further institutional policies to prevent harassment and mitigate its effects are needed.

The development of anti-bullying, discrimination and harassment guidance: a survey among the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) council members.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical trainees have a reasonable expectation to feel safe and valued in their workplace. Previous reports proved that poor behaviour and misconduct existed in national health systems. This study aimed to conduct a survey among the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) council members to identify the need for guidance to report bullying, discrimination and harassment for trainees who experienced any type of poor behaviour in the workplace. METHODS: Data among executive and council members were collected. Questions were related to trainee demographics, level of training, specialties, and experience of, witnessed or reported poor behaviours including bullying, discrimination and harassment. We asked if participants lacked direction when experiencing poor behaviours, and if support strategies were needed such as a standardised guidance for reports. RESULTS: A total of 58 survey responses were received: 55.17% of participants experienced bullying, 77.58% witnessed it and 67.25% did not report the incidents. Furthermore, 37.93% experienced discrimination, 62.07% witnessed it and 68.97% did not report. A total of 24.14% experienced sexual harassment, 29.69% witnessed it, while 72.41% did not report. Over 80% mentioned they need more guidance to support trainees. Almost all participants (98%) agreed that surgical trainees should be made aware of routes for reporting, and 88% agreed that ASiT should develop the guidance to support trainees against poor behaviours. CONCLUSION: Most of the trainees who experienced or witnessed poor behaviours did not report the incidents. A new standardised anti-bullying, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment guidance was developed based on our study results. We envisage that its use may play a role in eliminating misconduct in surgical training.

Influence of a sexism and sexual harassment prevention course on medical students' perceptions of and responses to problematic situations.

BACKGROUND: Issues of sexism and sexual harassment within the medical field are widespread. The aim of his study was to describe the influence of a training course on the prevention of sexism and sexual harassment on medical students' perceptions and responses to problematic situations in the workplace. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of the transcripts of 16 medical students' interviews. The data were initially gathered as part of an external evaluation of the course. We decided to further explore these with a focus on potential changes about sexism and sexual harassment awareness induced by the course. Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: Most medical students were aware of the existence of sexism and sexual harassment in the medical environment before the course but were not always able to delineate what could be considered as such or not. The course allowed them to broaden their ability to identify problematic situations, that were somewhat "trivialized" before, and to set a lower cut-off when judging what constitutes sexism or sexual harassment. It also provided them with tools on how to react when confronted to these situations, as well as resources to seek help. However, students stressed the importance of such courses also being offered to medical staff higher up in the hierarchy, as they are the ones in a position of power. CONCLUSIONS: The course helped students to better identify and react to sexism and sexual harassment. However, given students' lack of power within the hierarchy, efforts to prevent sexism and sexual harassment must be undertaken at an institutional level to allow for change in the system as a whole.

Improving Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Prevention from the Bottom-up: a Pilot of Getting To Outcomes in the US Military.

While the Department of Defense (DoD) has given increased attention and priority to preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment (SA/SH), it remains a problem. To build its prevention capacity, DoD piloted Getting To Outcomes® (GTO®) from 2019 to 2022 at 10 military installations. GTO is an evidence-based planning and implementation support that has been used in many civilian contexts but has only recently been adapted for military SA/SH. The purpose of this study was to describe GTO use, identify its benefits and challenges, and discuss lessons the GTO effort yielded for prevention more broadly using a framework of organizational and program-level capacities needed for successful prevention in the military context, called the Prevention Evaluation Framework (PEF). GTO was piloted with 10 military installations ("sites") representing all Military Services, plus the Coast Guard and National Guard. GTO is comprised of a written guide, training, and ongoing coaching. The pilot's goal was for each site to use GTO to implement a SA/SH prevention program twice. Participants from each site were interviewed and data was collected on GTO steps completed, whether GTO spurred new evaluation activities and collaborations, and the degree of leadership support for GTO. Most sites completed all GTO steps at least once. Interviews showed that DoD participants believe GTO improved prevention understanding, planning, and evaluation capacity; strengthened confidence in chosen programs; and helped sites tailor programs to the military context. Barriers were the complexity of GTO, DoD personnel turnover, and the disruption that the COVID pandemic caused in sexual assault prevention program delivery. Many respondents were unsure if they would continue all of GTO after the coaching ended, but many believed they would continue at least some parts. According to the PEF, the GTO pilot revealed several additional prevention system gaps (e.g., need for leadership support) and changes needed to GTO (e.g., stronger leader and champion engagement), to support quality prevention. The military and other large organizations will need to focus on these issues to ensure prevention implementation and evaluation are conducted with quality.

Primary Versus Secondary Prevention Effects of a Gender-Transformative Sexual Violence Prevention Program Among Male Youth: A Planned Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Engaging adolescent males is a promising violence prevention strategy. This study explored primary versus secondary prevention effects of a gender-transformative program (i.e., Manhood 2.0) versus job-readiness training on multiple forms of violence perpetration. Adolescent males, ages 13 to 19 years, were recruited through youth-serving organizations in Pittsburgh, PA, between July 27, 2015, and June 5, 2017, to participate in an unblinded community-based cluster-randomized trial in 20 neighborhoods. The intervention curriculum, Manhood 2.0, focused on challenging norms that foster gender-based violence and building bystander skills. The control program was job-readiness training. We completed a planned secondary analysis of surveys from baseline and 9 months post intervention (follow-up), wherein we stratified participants based on any sexual violence/adolescent relationship abuse (SV/ARA) at baseline and examined risk of perpetration of SV/ARA, incapacitated sex, sexual harassment, cyber sexual abuse, peer violence, bullying, and homophobic teasing at follow-up. Among 866 participants, mean age was 15.6 years, 70% identified as Black, 6% as Hispanic, and 6% as multiracial. In both the Manhood 2.0 intervention group and job-readiness control groups, youth who reported SV/ARA at baseline were significantly more likely to report any form of SV/ARA, incapacitated sex, sexual harassment, cyber sexual abuse, bullying, and homophobic teasing at follow-up. Among participants who reported no SV/ARA perpetration at baseline, participating in the Manhood 2.0 intervention program was associated with increased risk of SV/ARA at follow-up compared to participating in the job-readiness control program. Among participants who reported SV/ARA perpetration at baseline, participating in the Manhood 2.0 intervention group was associated with lower risk of peer violence at follow-up. Synergizing gender-transformative approaches with job-readiness training may offer opportunities for crosscutting prevention programming to address multiple forms of violence.