Tonight I got off my flight from Seattle to London & went straight to an archaeology awards ceremony. I was excited - I’ve never been nominated for a research award before!

But the evening ended in lots of tears, and highlighted to me how far the discipline has to come.

1/7

As I was being introduced, they said “she’s been researching sexual harassment in archaeology”, to which a large group of older men laughed. Fully laughed - to the point that the presenter had to say “it isn’t funny”.

2/7

I managed to go up and get my certificate, but as soon as I sat back down I burst into tears. In front of a hall full of people. It was humiliating.

This is exactly the kind of toxic culture in arc that drives out ERCs and, ironically, fosters sexual harassment.

3/7

Even if you take out the subject matter, imagine being 21, just out of undergrad, shortlisted for your first research award and... a group of people decide its acceptable to publicly *laugh* at that research.

4/7

I know that my research has not always been taken seriously. I know this. What I was surprised at was the fact that these people were so f***ing open about it that they laughed in front of a room of their colleagues, at a young woman.

5/7

Afterwards, when I couldn’t go up for the pictures because I was still crying, a number of older women came up to me. They all said very similar things:

“I’ve been in the field for X years. It’s about time someone is taking about this. Thank you.”

6/7

So I guess, tonight it was brought home both why this research can be so damn hard at times, and why it’s worth it.

7/7

Also, to just be clear: the organisation that hosted the awards were amazingly kind and supportive - both of me personally and my research. They were also angry at the reaction. I was very lucky in that respect.

Thank you everyone for your kind words. I’m going to be fine - I’ll continue to do my research, and try and contribute my small bit to making the field safer. What got me the most, I think, was how much I *love* my work. How much of myself I have poured into this work over the ..

.. last 3 years. Research which, btw, I do for free - no stipend, no salary, no research grants. I do it in my evenings and my weekends and I take unpaid time from my non-academic job to do talks & conferences. I do it bc I believe in it.

Some have been asking what my research is & where they can read it! So...

I research sexual misconduct that occurs during fieldwork, particularly in archaeology & anthropology. This is, sadly, very common, & the aim of my research is to inform policies to make fieldwork safer!

I’m currently in the process of finishing up a manuscript for publication, but until then...

My pilot study, as a thread: https://twitter.com/anthroqveer/status/1042735962823028736?s=21

A sneak preview of my current work, as a thread: https://twitter.com/anthroqveer/status/1145801611077410822?s=21