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Abstract
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"Harassment thrives in settings dominated by men," write Dis, Stadum, and Choo in a Harvard Business Review article "Sexual Harassment is rife in healthcare--here's how to stop it."1 Only 13% of surgical consultants in the UK are women, so perhaps this is one of the reasons why sexual harassment is an issue within the surgical profession.2
Following the publication of a recent article in the Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons England, "Sexual Assault in Surgery: a painful truth," there has been much discussion online about sexual assault and harassment in surgery.3 In response, Philippa Jackson, a consultant plastic surgeon, shared an account of her experience of sexual assault at work. She recounts an extended ordeal over many months which featured several shocking incidents, including an occasion when "one morning in a corridor, when discussing a case about to go to theatre, the member of staff commented on my breasts, hugged me and rubbed his erection on my thigh."4 She is not alone in experiencing such trauma, with many more harrowing and appalling accounts being shared online.
These accounts are shocking, but perhaps less so for those who have been paying attention. As Fleming and Fisher write in the Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons England, a Rouleaux club survey states that "46% of respondents reported experiencing or witnessing, bullying and undermining or harassment."3 Eight hundred respondents to the Kennedy review on diversity and inclusion in surgery reported harassment or abuse.5 Sexual harassment is not a new problem. A recent letter to the Lancet suggests that rates of sexual harassment among women physicians have not changed in the last 40-50 years.6
Surgery has its work cut out to change a culture that fails to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. However, the problems are unfortunately not unique to the specialty, or indeed to our country.
One paper ('#MeToo in EM') found that 53% of women experience "unwanted sexual behaviour" in emergency medicine in the USA, while in cardiology 36% of women "experienced unwanted sexual comments, attention, or advances from a superior or colleague."78 Six per cent of GPs have witnessed or experienced sexual harassment by a colleague.9 After complaints of sexism and harassment by two whistleblowers, The BMA conducted an independent review into its practices, which makes for challenging reading.10 Most shocking are the reports that 50-60% of medical students have experienced harassment before they have even started their clinical careers...
Language: en |