Website and hotline for endangered scientists
Scientists who suffer from threats, intimidation or aggression can call a special telephone number since yesterday. The websitesciencesafe.nl has also been launched.
Picture: Type tank
In the presence of several endangered scientists and Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), the platform was launched yesterday ScienceSafe launched. In a secret location, with guards at the door.
Leiden professor of law Afshin Ellian became visibly emotional while sitting at the table with Dijkgraaf. Because, according to him, this minister stands up for the freedom of scientists. How different it is in Iran, the country where Ellian was born.
“My colleagues in Tehran don't get security,” he said. In fact, the education minister at a university there berated the professors and threatened the students for their protests, Ellian said. Many young protesters have to pay with their death their slogan 'Woman, life, freedom'.
Guards
Ellian has been under heavy security for years because of his criticism of political Islam. There are also guards around this meeting, the launch of the Science Safe platform. The location has been kept secret for as long as possible and everyone must identify themselves upon entry.
Until recently, Ellian was one of the few in the Netherlands to be threatened, but it is happening more and more. For example, professor of legal philosophy Roland Pierik (Maastricht University) received all kinds of threats during corona time because of his views on mandatory childhood vaccinations. He still appears on television from time to time, but knows colleagues “who are smarter than me and could explain better” who thank them for it.
So there is now a special website for endangered scientists with an emergency number that they can call 24 hours a day. Researchers can also leave a message if they wish. They will then receive a response from their employer within a day and will be put in touch with people who can help them, such as lawyers and security experts.
Damage
The Ministry of Education supports the platform. Dijkgraaf thinks the threats are terrible. According to him, the greatest damage consists of the ideas that people do not get, because they choose a different subject anyway.
So do others. In a video about threats, former president Ineke Sluiter of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences emphasizes that certain groups are pushed away more than others, such as women. That weakens the debate.
The new website is partly intended to let scientists know that they are not alone. That is very important, Leiden researcher Nadia Bouras can tell from personal experience. Last year she received a threatening sticker on her door from a group that calls itself Vizier op Links. She tweeted about it, she didn't think it was normal for those people to come to her door.
Impact
Dijkgraaf lived outside the Netherlands at the time, but he still remembers the incident well – and he also remembers that all kinds of people immediately expressed their support when Bouras tweeted about it. “Absolutely”, confirms Bouras. “The response has been heartwarming and overwhelming.” An hour after her tweet, then-rector Hester Bijl called to ask how she was doing.
But that sticker did have an impact. She looked behind every tree for the first week to see if anyone was standing. A bicycle light from the neighbors across the street seemed pointed directly at her window, which made her restless. She had to inform her children's school about the threats. She no longer makes television appearances.
Harnesses
More stories came up during the meeting, for example about graduation ceremonies and lectures with security. It is a shame that such measures are necessary, thinks Minister Dijkgraaf, because they also limit your freedom. “If you have to walk around in a big harness, you move a little less freely.”
One university was further ahead than the other in supporting threatened colleagues. For example, the University of Amsterdam already had an emergency number. But everyone supported the arrival of a national platform, those involved say after the meeting. The development was all about practical matters: how are the messages secured, who will man the emergency line, what information will be on the website?
Dijkgraaf hardly had to interfere. All he had to do was put his signature. “That was perhaps the easiest decision I made as a minister,” he says when asked.
According to the minister, threats from scientists are also becoming more common abroad. He fears that the space for future scientists will shrink and that young researchers will avoid certain subjects.
This platform should not absolve us of the bigger task: how do we bring the temperature down a few degrees in the debate?
Dijkgraaf does not want to lose sight of the bigger problem. He warns that Science Safe, however important, is a form of symptom control. “It should not relieve us of the bigger task: how do we get the temperature in the debate down a few degrees?”
The platform was announced a year ago due to increasing threats against scientists from conspiracy theorists, radical groups and social media trolls. It is modeled on PersVeilig, which assists threatened journalists.
Declaration
“It is intolerable that scientists are confronted with threats, intimidation and hate reactions in their work,” says Pieter Duisenberg, chairman of the university association UNL. “The impact of this on our people is huge and we see the threats as an attack on academic freedom.”
University administrators have stated more often that they support their scientists. Last year they announced that they would always report threats, violence, stalking, burglary or theft. In his first public speech as minister, Robbert Dijkgraaf also drew attention to the safety of scientists.
