LOVA presents: Safety in the Field

We would like to introduce a new Working Group: 'Safety in the Field‘ (Veiligheid in het Veld) at the LOVA network for (feminist) anthropologists. Our working group was born out of the urgent need for more openness, discussion, reflection, and research around topics of sexual harassment, intimidation, and safety during fieldwork. While research has shown such experiences are relatively common, they continue to be marginalized in academic discussions. This Working Group aims to further explore how often and what kind of situations occur in which researchers feel their safety is undermined in the field. We hope to collaborate with universities and lecturers by organizing workshops for both staff and students on protecting boundaries and recognizing and minimizing potentially dangerous conditions. Additionally, we aim to reflect on the role of vulnerability during embodied research through academic writing. 

Are you interested in this topic? Please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We are currently looking for people to join us and to contribute to our working group. We also welcome people who are interested in workshops for staff and students; want to share (post-)fieldwork experiences and/or benchmark practices; or are interested in contributing to future publications on this matter. 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Janne Heederik (Radboud University) & Lise Zurné (Erasmus University)