The life at the International Monetary Fund is a close knit group of alpha male economists who work on lengthy projects all over the world. Women are generally in positions of lesser authority, and have continually complained about unwanted sexual advances.
This is the lender of last resort for governments that need money and, under the leadership of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, an emerging force in the regulation of the global economy.
But with Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s arrest earlier this yesr and indictment on Thursday on charges that he tried to rape a New York hotel housekeeper, a spotlight has been cast on the culture of the institution. And questions have been revived about a 2008 episode in which the I.M.F. decided that Mr. Strauss-Kahn had not broken any rules in sleeping with a female employee.
