International leading figure of the #MeToo movement Celeste Kidd visits Trinity

Posted on: 10 April 2019

Celeste Kidd, Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator, University of California, Berkeley and one of the leading figures of the global #MeToo movement visited Trinity College on Monday, April 8th, 2019 as part of the 2019 TCD Neurohumanities Public Talks series. Kidd’s lecture entitled “How Sexual Harassment Creates Inequality in Academia” explored how sexual harassment is especially salient in academia, where the power is more concentrated and the hierarchies are more clearly delineated.

In 2017 Kidd, along with her colleagues publicly challenged the University of Rochester on its handling of, and retaliation against, sexual harassment complaints from students and staff. She was internationally recognised as one of the academic leaders of this ongoing movement by TIME Magazine, when she was jointly featured as TIME Person of the Year 2017.

Kidd’s activism has shed new light on how academic cultures of silence and intimidation can allow abusive behaviour to persist, and victims’ careers to be damaged by the very institutions responsible for protecting them. She continues to advocate for protection from harassment for students and researchers in science and academia.

Professor Kidd said: “Sexual harassment targets people who lack the power to protect themselves from it. This is true everywhere, but it’s especially salient in academia, where the power is more concentrated and the hierarchies are more clearly delineated. Unlike other industries where if you have an abusive boss, you may be able to switch jobs and still keep a career in the same industry, a retaliating professor can destroy any chance at your having a career in academia at all.”

“There are many features of academia that make retaliation pervasive. Unlike other industries where if you have an abusive boss, you may be able to switch jobs and still keep a career in the same industry, a retaliating professor can destroy any chance at your having a career in academia at all.”

“While the MeToo movement has initiated more discussion on the problems with harassment itself, there’s another layer to the problem that I think is still not as widely discussed as it needs to be. That layer is how institutions respond to harassment complaints. They have a bias to find nothing when they investigate claims. If they admit that there was any defect in their system or process, or that harassment occurred at their institution, they make it easier for individuals to win lawsuits against the institution.”

Senator Ivana Bacik introduced the event. Following the lecture, Ussher Assistant Professor, Dr Clare Kelly interviewed Professor Kidd and fielded questions from the audience.

The event was jointly hosted by Women in Research Ireland (WIRI) and the Trinity College Dublin Neurohumanities Series.

Roisin Loftus, Research Fellow, Trinity College and representing Women in Research Ireland, said: “Assistant Professor Celeste Kidd has given a voice to victims of sexual harassment that are often silenced in academia. She has started a movement of bravery, that beings with a conversation. We are very grateful to have her speak in Trinity today, and hope that this evening’s event can inspire a similar movement of standing up for what is right and protecting the members of all Irish Universities.”

Dr Tomás Ryan, Associate Professor, Trinity Institute of Neuroscience said: ‘It’s an honour to host Celeste Kidd here in Dublin; we know that sexual harassment on campuses is a significant issue here just as it is in other countries, and it is vitally important that we take effective steps to address it at every level.”

WATCH: You can watch a recording of the event here: