The case of a high-profile Harvard professor accused of sexual harassment is prompting an investigation and widespread soul-searching by the association he once steered. The Latin American Studies Association announced recently that it would appoint an anti-harassment task force. The task force will spend the next year contacting members about harassment experienced in their professional lives and at association events, and then make recommendations on policies and best practices.

Harvard University placed professor Jorge Domínguez on administrative leave in March, following allegations that he had sexually harassed women in the course of multiple decades. Domínguez was LASA board president in 1982-83; an assistant professor filed a complaint against him in 1983, but he stayed at Harvard.

"In the process of setting up the task force, we quickly recognized that sexual harassment is part and parcel of broader structures, cultures and practices of domination and inequality," LASA said in a statement. "Accordingly, our review should include study of and response to harassment based on race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, citizenship and able-bodiedness as well as gender."

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on the allegations against Domínguez in February. The subject of harassment was on the agenda during the group's annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain, last week. Some attendees told the Chronicle they had known about the allegations, but people avoided talking about it or confronting the issue. https://bit.ly/2L7xZm9

The task force is to deliver its findings and recommendations in May 2019 at the LASA annual meeting in Boston. Future conferences will include discussions, workshops and forums on harassment.

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