Female Anthropologists Face Widespread Sexual Harassment

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For many young women looking to make a career for themselves in anthropology, it seems like a very exciting career, and rightly so.  There’s the feeling that comes with gaining a deep and intimate knowledge of a culture, and long field trips on remote locations, trying to understand what made a people tick.  However, the field of anthropology also seems to have a darker side that not many people are aware of.  There have been widespread incidents of sexual harassment, including rape and sexual assault that have been perpetrated on young females in this field.

A group of female anthropologists have conducted a study that shows a very high incidence of sexual harassment.  More than 20% of the female anthropologists who took part in the study reported that they had experienced some kind of sexual harassment on the job.  This includes physical harassment or unwanted sexual contact.

The team of female anthropologists conducted an online survey.  They contacted female colleagues using Facebook, e-mails and via blogs.  The results of the study were presented recently at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

According to the study, as many as 30% of the respondents reported that they faced verbal abuse very often, or frequently.  Another 60% of the women reported that they had been the target of inappropriate sexual remarks and other jokes, compared with 39% of males.  There were 20% of the women who reported having suffered some kind of physical sexual harassment or unwanted social contact on the job.

It is not surprising to Los Angeles sexual harassment lawyers that most of these cases seemed to involve female victims, while the perpetrator was almost always a male colleague with higher professional status.  In this field, it's common to have mentors and protégés, and very often, the perpetrators of the harassment were found to be the mentors.

Reese Witherspoon, Husband Arrested for DUI, Disorderly Conduct

Actress Reese Witherspoon has a prim and respected reputation in Hollywood.  However, that reputation is likely to be somewhat tarnished after the actress's recent arrest for disorderly conduct.  Her arrest coincided with the arrest of her husband for DUI.

The incident unfolded when police officers pulled over Witherspoon‘s husband, Jim Toth after spotting his car driving in the wrong lane.  He was pulled over by the cops, who proceeded to administer the actress's husband a sobriety test.  However, by time, Witherspoon was beginning to get very frustrated with the delay in letting her husband go, and did something that no LosAngeles DUI lawyer would recommend, she began to interfere with the proceedings. 

Her husband rated a .139 on the test, which is more than the legally permissible alcohol level of .08 in California.  At this point, Witherspoon got out of the car, and began arguing with the cops.  According to reports, she seemed very upset, and asked the cops if they knew who she was, and warned them that within the next few hours they were going to be on national news, because of their conduct with her.

Both she and her husband were taken to jail, he for driving under the influence, and she for disorderly conduct.  Both of them were handcuffed and taken to jail, and were released on bond a few hours later.

Since the embarrassing arrest, the actress has released a statement saying that she was unable to comment on the legal situation, but she was embarrassed about the things that she said during the arrest.  She also clearly admitted to having had too much to drink.

Man Acquitted of Sex Crime after Claiming Sleep Sex Disorder

A Danish court has cleared a man who had been charged with sex crimes involving molestation of 2 teenage girls, of all charges because he suffers from a condition called “sexomnia.”  This is a condition in which a person engages in sexual activities during sleep. 

The charges stem from an incident that occurred in 2011.  The man was at a party with the teenagers, and all of them had gone to sleep.  According to the charges against him, he fondled the teenagers in his sleep.  When the girls woke, they found the man molesting them, and immediately reported this to the police.  The man denied all knowledge of the acts, saying that he did not remember anything.

He was charged with several sex crimes, but the court has now cleared him of those charges, saying that doctors have confirmed that he suffers from this rare sexual condition. 

According to the court, medical tests have confirmed that the man suffers from a condition called sexomnia in which a person engages in sexual activities even during sleep.  This disorder isn't as bizarre as you would suppose.  In fact, according to doctors, it is a fairly rare sleep disorder, but is definitely a genuine disorder.  In fact, Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys have come across research that sufficiently establishes the presence of such a condition. 

Sexomnia is also known as “sleep sex,” and actually impacts far more people every year than is known.  Some experts describe this condition as “sleepwalking through sex” in which the person continues to indulge in all kinds of sexual activities, just as he would have in an awakened state, in a state of utter and absolute sleep.  Upon waking, the person may have no memory of what happened.