An editorial in Science says:

An accommodating and supportive environment is essential to conducting scientific research. Yet, in almost every country, researchers can experience harassment, threats, prosecution, or even violence for opinions they express or for their work in relation to high-profile issues. Although many international and regional reports on this issue are patchy in terms of comprehensiveness and representation, they reveal clear and worrying trends—namely, that researchers working in politically charged fields such as public health, climate, and sexual and reproductive rights are prone to threats to their safety. The scientific community must heighten awareness and catalyze change if science is to remain a bedrock of societal well-being.

Surveys in 2021 and 2022 showed that 22% and 38% of respondent researchers, respectively, received threats of violence after talking to the media about COVID-19. Similarly, a worldwide survey by Global Witness published in 2023 found that 39% of respondents experienced online harassment or abuse related to their climate research. And as documented in Scholars at Risk’s annual monitor, students and scholars working in all fields fall victim to attacks—nearly 300 instances have been recorded from across the world between August 2023 and August 2024.

Although all researchers may be confronted with such threats, they appear to especially affect specific groups. According to the UniSAFE project (2022), in 31 European countries, Canada, and the United States, 62% of respondent researchers reported having fallen victim to at least one form of gender-based harassment or violence. Early career researchers and researchers from minority ethnic backgrounds or with a disability are particularly vulnerable. [Continue reading…]