system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Are grad students expected to participate in the labs research as subjects?

My advisor asked all of his lab members to participate in his study, as he had trouble recruiting before his grant ends.

The research topic is sensitive (sexual violence), and I do not feel comfortable being interviewed by a lab member about this. He has asked us to participate a few times but always says "only if you are comfortable doing it". 

Is it expected for us to participate in his study?
gpt
This is an ethical violation. Consent to participate in research has to be voluntary and informed. There is an inherent power imbalance between your supervisor and his students, which undermines the voluntary component of consent. It sounds like he would also be collecting sensitive information about his students, which is a boundary violation. Your supervisor is either knowingly violating research ethics board rules (and probably rules around conduct with students) or he is an idiot. Either way, it's all very bad.