Sexual harassment from males prevents female bonding,
says study
Two male guppies harrass a female
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The extent to which sexual harassment from males can damage
relationships between females is revealed in a study published
today. Led by the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at the
University of Exeter and published in Proceedings of the Royal
Society B, the research uncovers the effect of sexual harassment on
the ability of female fish to form social bonds with each
other.
The study focused on guppies, a popular aquarium fish, in which
scientists have previously observed a very high level of sexual
harassment from males towards females. The researchers found that
male harassment not only breaks down female social structures but
also affects females' ability to recognise one another.
The research provides the first insight into the effect of male
sexual harassment on female social networks and social recognition.
The findings could have relevance to other species.
Lead author Dr Safi Darden of the University of Exeter explains
"Sexual harassment is a burden that females of many species ranging
from insects to primates suffer and the results of our work suggest
that this harassment may limit the opportunities for females to
form social bonds across a range of species"
The research team worked with a population of wild guppies in
Trinidad, isolating the females and introducing males to change the
sex ratio and examining the effect of males on female social
behaviour. They carried out a number of experiments on each group
to test the females' ability to recognise their peers and form
bonds with other members of the group.
The study showed that, after experiencing a high level of sexual
harassment, females were less able to recognise the other females
in the group. They were also more likely to form bonds with new
females, introduced from outside their network.
Co-author Dr Darren Croft of the University of Exeter said "This is
an extremely interesting result as it appears that females that
experience sexual harassment actually prefer to avoid other females
with whom they associate the negative experience."
Those females that were grouped without males were better able to
recognise one another and also showed a preference for females from
within, rather than outside, the group.
Dr Safi Darden adds: "The health and well-being of an individual is
dependent, in part, on having strong social bonds with others and
females that have weakened social bonds may be less likely to
survive in the wild. This makes the effect of male harassment quite
significant, but it is an area that has not previously been
studied."
The researchers do not know exactly why sexual harassment from
males has such a marked effect on female social interaction.
However, it is possible that the sheer amount of time spent by
females dealing with unwanted male attention prevents them from
forming relationships with other females. They believe females from
groups with more males may have bonded with females from outside in
order to try to establish themselves in a more favourable
environment.
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University of Exeter
Thanks to University of Exeter for this article.