Key Stakeholder Interviews

Key Stakeholder Interviews: Overview

Overview. The key stakeholder interviews will be facilitated by SAHPR teammates Alteristic and VRLC.

Purpose. For each question, tell us if you agree or disagree. Choices: Strongly Agree; Agree; Disagree; Strongly Disagree; I don’t know; Neither Agree nor Disagree

The purpose of the key stakeholder interviews is to gain a deeper understanding of current conditions, organizational capacity, and organizational needs that will inform and impact the creation of a realistic and effective USAP SAHPR implementation plan.

Length. One hundred twenty minutes.

Key Topics:

• Policy, infrastructure and resources. Details about specific training, reporting structure and investigation protocols.

• Prevention and Response staffing.

• Relationships. Deeper understanding of roles on-ice.

Key Stakeholder Interview: Protocol and Questions

Introduction:

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. Let’s do brief introductions.

[Brief introductions: Facilitator and notetaker (Alteristic), facilitator and notetaker (VRLC), key stakeholder(s)]

As you may know, we are a part of a team conducting a Needs Assessment for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Polar Programs (OPP) and for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) Sexual Assault Harassment Prevention Training and Response (SAHPR) program. The purpose of the Needs Assessment is to learn more about current conditions relating to sexual assault and harassment on the ice, and across OPP and partner organizations; and identify feasible recommendations that will support OPP in developing a successful, comprehensive approach to address and prevent sexual assault and harassment.

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us and discuss your experience. We are holding several key stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and administering surveys as a part of this Needs Assessment with many USAP participants. We are going to record our conversation today and [INSERT NAMES OF NOTETAKERS] will be taking notes. We will capture the actual words that are said, to ensure the Needs Assessment accurately reflects participants’ experiences and perceptions. After we complete the data collection process, we will analyze the information and identify themes to inform the Needs Assessment Report. Please note, we will not link your name to your words in any way. Recordings and transcripts will be available only to the Needs Assessment Team. They will not be made available to members of PPO or Partner Organizations. Themes and data will be summarized in group form for the Needs Assessment Report but there will be no way to link your name to anything you say. I do ask that you keep what is spoken here confidential. I will let you know before I start recording.

You can skip any questions you don’t want to answer, and you may take a break or quit at any time. If there is something you would like to share with one of us privately, we will provide our contact information in the chat box, and you can feel free to contact us directly.

We have XX minutes to talk. We may or may not use the full time. We also invite you to follow up with us afterward if you think of something you want to share. We’ll put our contact information in the Chat box.

I’m going to start the recording now.

Questions:

Can you explain the organizational structure where you work or for the USAP organization you are most familiar with?

• [Prompt] What are the different roles and how are they distinct from each other?

• [Prompt] Explain the different levels of authority and/or influence.

Who are the most significant subpopulations within your workplace or the USAP organization you are most familiar with?

• [Prompt] What makes each of these groups unique?

• [Prompt] Are any groups impacted by sexual assault, harassment, or other concerning behaviors more than others?

How do individuals or organizations interact with each other?

• [Prompt] Who communicates with whom? Why?

• [Prompt] What is everyday culture like on the ice?

• [Prompt] What do social interactions look like, both formal and informal?

• [Prompt] How do people communicate within the USAP organization you are most familiar with?

• [Prompt] How do individuals communicate outside of their organization?

• [Prompt] How are relationships between organizations? Are they positive, negative, neutral?

What are current programs, policies, or other activities that address or prevent sexual assault and harassment?

• [Prompt] Are the programs or activities mandatory?

• Prompt] How often do employees receive training or related information?

• [Prompt] How are these programs, policies, or other activities received by employees?

• [Prompt] Do you perceive them as helpful? How are they helpful? Do they make a difference?

• [Prompt] What is the perception of employees or contractors? Positive, negative, neutral?

• [Prompt] Are programs, policies, or other related activities evaluated? If yes, which are evaluated? How is each one evaluated?

• [Prompt] What is the current capacity of your organization to evaluate programs, policies, or other related activities?

• [Prompt] Where do training or workshops happen? Are there places where they are not happening that you think could and should be? What are the barriers to having them happen there (if there are any barriers?) Where could they happen? Virtual or in-person?

Do you have a position or group of people dedicated to addressing and/or preventing sexual assault and/or harassment?

• [Prompt] What is their role?

• [Prompt] What kind of training or expertise do they have?

• [Prompt] How much time are they able to dedicate to those efforts?

Is there funding dedicated to preventing sexual assault and/or harassment? For responding to it?

• [Prompt] How much?

• [Prompt] How is that funding currently being used?

• [Prompt] How do you think it should be used?

How much access do you, members of leadership, and/or HR have to implement a prevention program with USAP participants across different organizations?

• [Prompt] What about as a part of on-boarding, before an individual arrives on the ice?

• [Prompt] How much time could a training, workshop, or other activity be?

How much access do you, members of leadership, and/or HR have to implement a response program with USAP participants across different organizations?

• What challenges do you foresee?

• What solutions or ideas might you have for how to overcome those challenges?

We know that effective prevention requires multiple doses of key content. Which types of the following training and activity options would work with the USAP participants you are most familiar with?

• Two-hour in-person, interactive training?

• Thematic campaigns?

  1. [If yes:] What do you envision as the methods for this type of campaign?

Short (5- to 20-minute) booster activities that can be incorporated into existing meetings and activities? Below are the tailored questions for response, based on organizational roles.

Station Managers

1. If there were a sexual assault complaint, can you explain the process of how you would learn of it? What would the next steps be? Who would have a say in that decision?

2. What are the criteria for when you contact the US Attorney’s Office in HI (is it for every case or only those where guidance is requested)?

3. Do you have an assigned contact at the USAO?

4. How easy or difficult is it to reach a contact at the USAO??

5. If parties needed to be separated, is there a practice for putting individuals at separate stations on ice or just restricting within the building? How do you determine who gets moved versus who stays? Have you ever separated individuals because of a report of SA or SH? Can you tell us more about that?

6. If there were a sexual assault on-ice (including in the field) and it was reported, would there always be an investigation? What if it were someone other than the victim who reported it? Who decides? Would Station Managers complete the investigation or would USAO handle it long-distance?

7. Are you trained/expected to collect evidence following a sexual assault?

8. Are Station Managers trained in trauma-informed investigation techniques? (E.g.., Have you ever heard of FETI interviews?)

9. Is there anyone on the ice who can conduct a medical forensic examination? Are you set up to do these via telehealth?

10. Are there policies or procedures you can think of that could/should be implemented to address the SH/SA that does take place?

11. How serious a problem would you say it is?

    1. Sexual harassment? Sexual assault?

    2. Has anyone ever reported SA or SH to you? Did you feel equipped to address it?

       1. Why or why not?

       2. What did you do? What was the response if any? (Why/why not? What could/should have been done differently?

Karey Jamison and Ethan Norris – Leidos

1. What resources might be available for a victim sexual assault on-ice? SANE, medical help, evidence collection, rape crisis or mental health counseling?

2. Do you have a list of these resources that you could provide to a victim?

3. In a recent sexual harassment training, a slide mentioned “rights a sexual assault victim has” on-ice. Where do these rights originate from? Is there a specific policy?

4. The Polar Code of Conduct tells potential complainants to report to a “supervisor, principal investigator, department chair, commanding officer, human resources, ethics or legal representatives.” Could you help us understand what employer each of these positions reports to? How do employees know who specifically to report it to?

5. What types of training are human resources investigators given re: trauma-informed response to sexual harassment, trauma-informed investigation techniques and/or trainings about specific forms of gender-based violence?

6. Is the NSF Portal for individual complaints included in these trainings?

7. Can the other positions listed as potential persons to report to given any training on best practices for response and providing information on resources to complainants?

8. How many of the positions listed above would also be the same person who would be investigating the claim?

9. Are their assessments of conflict of interest?

10. What is your disciplinary process?

11. Is the disciplinary process included in a policy?

12. How do you communicate the process to parties?

13. Are steps taken to prevent retaliation?

South Pole Winter Manager - Alexandra (Sasha) Rahlin

1. If you receive a report of sexual harassment, do you feel you have a good idea of what next steps to take?

2. If you receive a report of sexual assault, do you feel you have a good idea of what next steps to take?

3. What options are available at the South Pole station to keep parties separated?

4. What are the potential options for removing a person who is currently on-ice?

5. Are there unique characteristics of the South Pole station working and living environment that create barriers to reporting?

NSF General Counsel – Bijan

1. Working with your contractors, what is the process for determining whether an individual who has violated the Code of Conduct can return to a USAP location?

2. How long has the NSF Portal for individual complaints been operational?

3. Could you give us a sense of how many complaints you have received?

4. Do you relay that information to the employer? How and when is this done?

Is there anything that we have asked that you think would help us to inform the development of an effective approach to addressing and preventing sexual assault and harassment for USAP participants?

Thank you for your time. Along with others, your responses will be used to inform a comprehensive approach to address and prevent sexual assault and harassment for all USAP participants.