The article was used in Space.com's expert voices: op-ed and insights.
Simon Dubé is a PhD candidate in psychology of human sexuality and space sexology.
Judith Lapierre is a professor at the Faculty of Nursing Science.
Maria Santaguida is a PhD candidate in psychology at the university.
There is a new beginning in space exploration. NASA wants to land a woman and a person of color on the moon by the end of the 20th century and send a crew to Mars in the 21st century.
The technical and human factors associated with working and living in space must be addressed by national agencies such as NASA and private companies. The realities of sexuality and intimacy are not included.
Is it possible for people to live for a long time in the isolated, confined and extreme conditions of spaceships and other planets. How will people deal with falling in love, having sex and starting and ending relationships? How will people deal with stress, limited choice of partners and consent issues? What can be done to prevent or address sexual harassment?
The movement against sexual harassment and assault was born on Oct. 15th. We argue that it's time to plan for the future of #MeToo in space as researchers explore human factors in space and space sexology.
We need to figure out how to have sex in space in order to survive.
On December 3, 1999, Judith Lapierre embarked on a Mars simulation experiment aboard a Mir Space Station replica in Moscow. There were eight people in the crew.
The Russian chief commander talked about running an experiment where Lapierre would be treated as the crew's sexual object. He kissed Lapierre despite her repeated requests to stop on New Year's Eve.
The Austrian crew commander demanded action from the local and international management after Lapierre told the Canadian Space Agency.
After the experiment, Lapierre opened up about her expectations of a safe, harassment-free and violence-free workplace. A physical altercation between Russian crew members and a depressed woman were blamed by some Russian news outlets.
The cultural differences made the simulation experiment less aggressive. Lapierre's time in the space sector became more difficult due to her speaking out.
She describes in the film Last Exit: Space.
I was pushed out of the system when the mission ended because I thought it would be the start of my research project with the space agency or the start of my field of work.
There is more to Lapierre than meets the eye. Sexual harassment has happened in other contexts that are similar to the real world.
According to a report commissioned by the National Science Foundation, over 70% of the women who responded agreed that sexual harassment and sexual assault are a problem in the USAP. One of the survivors said it was true.
The lack of adequate prevention, reporting and response systems, as well as the lack of support for victim-survivors, are highlighted in the report. The majority of the leadership agreed that sexual harassment and sexual assault are problems in the USAP.
The USAP is not the only one. Employees of Blue Origin and SpaceX came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior.
A group of 21 current and former employees of Blue Origin denounced a sexist work culture, inappropriate behaviors toward women and cases of sexual harassment by senior leaders.
The culture of space exploration needs to be changed for humankind to take its next steps.
National agencies and private space companies need to be on guard against sexual harassment and assault. NASA and other space organizations need to do more than just implement anti-harassment policies. The support and protection of victim-survivors must be put in place.
Sexologists may be involved in the creation of oversight entities. Human relationships and sexual health can be studied in space.
Every step of the way, victim-survivors need to be involved. This is essential to ensure the safety of Earth-based and space environments.
Collective action is powerful. In the words of Lapierre.
It is time to meet the real challenges of space exploration with honesty, transparency, and by recognizing that Earth's unacceptable behaviors are also Space's unacceptable behaviors for a spacefaring civilization.
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