I am also very glad this topic has been raised. It is, unfortunately, present in commercial archaeology today.
I am still fairly new to this profession with just under a years worth of field work employment, yet within this time, in fact, my first job within this profession I along with two other young females starting out or gaining voluntary experience were subjected to varying degrees of sexual harassment. This situation was as trowlfodder described ...
'just starting out in your career, you are incredibly vulnerable and may find it difficult to walk the line between banter and feeling uncomfortable but afraid to speak up'
After a period of a month or so, when I had enough courage to make it clear that such behaviour and advancements were unwanted I was then subjected to systematic bullying, predominately in the form of a passive aggressive nature, until eventually I was forced to leave when the bullying climaxed to such an extent I did not feel safe working and living alongside that same person.
Myself and another raised the bullying with our employer but I feel it was not taken seriously - I.e. In the first instance, we were asked by the employer to 'carry on working to get the job done' despite our concerns. In most other professions allegations of that nature lead to temporary suspension of the person concerned, this was not done and we had to have our meeting with the employer on site, instead of on neutral ground, with the person concerned in the room next door.
Although I knew at the time (and has been confirmed since working for other companies) that this was perhaps not representative of employment within archaeology, I have not yet been with a company that has been forthright in providing inductions on sexual harassment and bullying. This might seem like an inconvenience as some employees are only on jobs for a matter of weeks - but I feel, given my experience, that this is too important not too.
I am still fairly new to this profession with just under a years worth of field work employment, yet within this time, in fact, my first job within this profession I along with two other young females starting out or gaining voluntary experience were subjected to varying degrees of sexual harassment. This situation was as trowlfodder described ...
'just starting out in your career, you are incredibly vulnerable and may find it difficult to walk the line between banter and feeling uncomfortable but afraid to speak up'
After a period of a month or so, when I had enough courage to make it clear that such behaviour and advancements were unwanted I was then subjected to systematic bullying, predominately in the form of a passive aggressive nature, until eventually I was forced to leave when the bullying climaxed to such an extent I did not feel safe working and living alongside that same person.
Myself and another raised the bullying with our employer but I feel it was not taken seriously - I.e. In the first instance, we were asked by the employer to 'carry on working to get the job done' despite our concerns. In most other professions allegations of that nature lead to temporary suspension of the person concerned, this was not done and we had to have our meeting with the employer on site, instead of on neutral ground, with the person concerned in the room next door.
Although I knew at the time (and has been confirmed since working for other companies) that this was perhaps not representative of employment within archaeology, I have not yet been with a company that has been forthright in providing inductions on sexual harassment and bullying. This might seem like an inconvenience as some employees are only on jobs for a matter of weeks - but I feel, given my experience, that this is too important not too.