Dear colleagues,
stsing e.V. is an association (“Verein”) doing Science and Technology Studies (STS) in and through Germany, established in 2020. One of stsing’s working groups is the ‘Best Practices’ group which is trying to develop practices that nurture ‘good relations’ within complex academic networks. We have been watching the developments related to #MeTooSTS/ #WeDoSTS closely and stsing has recently published a statement in response: https://stsing.org/abuses-of-power-metoosts-and-how-wedosts
To continue this conversation in Germany and make use of existing infrastructures and expertise, we are collaborating with the Network against Power Abuse in Science (https://www.netzwerk-mawi.de/en/). The Network has long-standing commitment to publishing accounts of power abuse on their website as well as supporting the people who approach them with these reports. To this end, the Network has a portal which allows you to anonymously submit accounts of power abuse that you may have witnessed or experienced. If necessary, members of the network might slightly edit the account before publishing it to ensure that nobody can be identified in it. You can see examples of cases published on their website here: https://www.netzwerk-mawi.de/en/case-examples.
The Best Practices group believes that the question of how #WeDoSTS in Germany requires an understanding of how power abuse is facilitated and allowed to play out. Testimonies in this sense are evidence and deserve to be studied as such in order to find practical solutions and strategies. We encourage you to submit your experiences, even if you are unsure if your account fits the ‘traditional’ definitions of abuse – whatever they might be. Our focus is not only on sexual harassment and extends to different forms of power abuse and discrimination – including those that might be perceived as a challenge to traditional definitions. Down the line, the Best Practices group plans to produce a report on the landscape of #MeTooSTS and #WeDoSTS in Germany based on the stories that we receive via the Network.
You can find more information on the collaboration and submission guidelines here.