Some members of the American Historical Association report in a new survey that they have been sexually harassed during the group's annual meetings.

The AHA survey was adapted from a similar survey conducted by the American Political Science Association in 2017. The goal of both efforts was to gauge the extent of sexist behavior and sexual harassment occurring at the groups' annual meetings as part of broader efforts to address the problem.

"Like other scholarly associations, the AHA has long recognized the importance of combating sexual harassment in our ranks, but recent events have brought those concerns even more to the forefront than previously," AHA Council President Mary Beth Norton and Executive Director James Grossman said in a Sept. 27 column announcing the survey results.

A total of 1,656 members responded to the survey out of more than 12,000 contacted. More than 58 percent of respondents were women. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they had been put down or experienced condescending behavior during an annual meeting. Fifteen percent had heard sexist comments. Ten percent said they were subject to behavior that made them uncomfortable, such as leering or ogling.

Asked specifically about sexual harassment, 5 percent said they had received unwanted attempts to establish a sexual relationship. The same percentage of respondents had been touched in ways that made them feel uncomfortable. Roughly 1 percent had felt bribed to engage in a sexual relationship while about the same number of respondents said they had been threatened to do so.

The survey also asked members for ways to make the annual meeting more inclusive and safer. The most frequent concern was the use of hotel rooms and suites for job interview sites. Another was gender balance on discussion panels. Many respondents also noted the role of alcohol in sexual misconduct and suggested holding networking events without alcoholic beverages.

The association didn't pledge any specific policy changes as a result of the survey but noted it recently implemented a new sexual harassment policy for its events and programs. http://bit.ly/2P3PIND

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