Today is #WomeninScienceDay, and my former dept head just asked me if I would be ok being removed as a coauthor from a paper I worked on for more than a year. With the ongoing discussions about academic misconduct and abuse, I feel it's the right time to share my experience. I haven't spoken about this publicly because there is an investigation ongoing and I haven't wanted to jeopardize it. Also, I'm worried I'll be branded a troublemaker, and I'm embarrassed I ended up in this situation (I know, victim self-blaming).