Fish Studies Show that Sexual Harassment Breaks Down Bonds between Females

Staff Writer, April 24, 2009

A recent scientific study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, which uncovers the effect that sexual harassment has on female fish. Researchers at the Centre for Research in Animal Behavior at the University of Exeter found that because of sexual harassment from male fish, female fish were kept from forming social bonds with each other.

The scientists studied guppies, a popular aquarium fish, which is well known for its sexual harassment and aggressive behavior in the males. By observing these animals for some period of time, they were able to find that not only does this kind of harassment break down female social structures, but it also affects their ability to recognize each other. It is thought that this research can be applied across several different species and may tell us something about the effects that sexual harassment has on humans.

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."