Sexual Harassment of Female Doctors

Introduction

Sexual harassment has recently come into the limelight as a major issue for female doctors around the world. However, this has been an issue for as long as women have been moving into many careers. Double standards, the glass ceiling, and sexual harassment is a major problem all around the world, although in some nations more than other. Patriarchy, the cultural supremacy of males based on the delusion that males are superior to females, governs the cultural patterns and psyches of many nations. As women confront this injustice with their skill, intelligence, and determination they are buffeted with a whirlwind of threats, harassment, and outright violence as the collective male psyche struggles to come to grips with the reality of the value of women.  

Double Standards

Currently, America is facing a major shortage of doctors, specifically general practitioners, and this is a time when doctors must be supported more than ever to benefit a largely aging population. However, this has not been the case, and more than ever doctors are overworked, rushed, relying of nurses to do most of their work, and bogged down by irrational regulations due to the profit motivation in health care. Complicating this at a time that could not be direr for citizens in need is the reality of sexism which undermines the security of the health care industry. Sexual harassment no matter how minor, has disastrous effects in that a person who is subject to it may never feel safe or welcome in that environment again. A recent study revealed “Among the women who reported sexual harassment, nearly 60% said it had a negative effect on their confidence in themselves as professionals and close to 50% said the experiences negatively impacted their career advancement” (Sifferlin). After the intense challenges and strenuous requirements doctors must go through to gain their position, their sense of security to be undermined by someone’s bigotry is simply criminal. 

However, the reality of sexual harassment of doctors raises an important element of sexism which is that no position is high enough or contains enough prestige to be protected from sexual harassment. In the mind of a bigot even a female president would be a keen target to his sexual harassment, and this reality highlights that those who harass others based on anything suffer from mental illness, and must be dealt with as such. However, since this form of mental illness, sexual harassment fueled by Patriarchy, is so widespread it is often accepted due to how pervasive it is, no matter how inappropriate. This culture is supported also, “ironically, under-recognition of sexual harassment within the field may increase the stigmatization women doctors feel, and discourage them from reporting their experiences, the study’s authors wrote” (Pearson). Greater transparency is the first step towards holding these predators accountable to the new levels of social justice.

While the sexual harassment of female doctors by patients and other doctors alike has been going on since the first women donned her white jacket, it has been only recently that women have begun to speak up about. This has led to a culture of silence for too long, each year in the United States, 15,000 sexual harassment complaints are filed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While people who aren’t women are often victims of abuse in the workplace, the majority of these complaints are women being harassed by men. On top of that, most of those women are harassed by their supervisors. Looking beyond work, a sample survey executed by the American Association of University Women Foundation found that 83% of girls and 60% of boys experienced sexual harassment in their schools. These stats, while already intimidating and disturbing, cannot account for the numerous unreported cases of sexual harassment. (McKinstry)

Many female doctors have reported cases where they felt obliged to provide sexual favors to keep their job or to gain promotions, which in turn creates advancement opportunities not for the most qualified, but for those able to be manipulated. This issue goes beyond complications in the workplace, and leads to the reality of psychological damage. Widespread sexual abuse in the health industry has resulted in:

•One woman reported that she had to ‘provide sexual favors in [her supervisor's] consulting rooms in return for tutorship’. 1

• Several women told the inquiry they felt ‘vulnerable and powerless when propositioned by senior male surgeons,’ the report said.2

• There are stories of acceptance at the time, as a 'necessary evil' with subsequent feelings of regret and shame. The impact of the sexual harassment was varied, ranging from annoyance at having to deal with it to utter despair and feelings of worthlessness.3

• Other female surgeons, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, told how a ‘boys club’ mentality within the profession led to women being ostracized when they complained about sexual harassment.

Threatening Reality

Along with recent awareness raised by studies of sexual harassment, this issue’s intense reality has been made plain through the very real words of Dr. Gabrielle McMullin, a top vascular surgeon in Sydney, Australia. Dr. McMullin gives the stark advice to those women struggling to come up in the health profession, “What I tell my trainees is that, if you are approached for sex, probably the safest thing to do in terms of your career is to comply with the request” (Dean and Slater). While this is a difficult statement it reflects the reality of how entrenched and supported bigotry is. To support this apparently callous statement, Dr. McMullin shared the real life story of Dr. Caroline Tan on ABC’s AM program:

[Dr. Tan] won a sexual harassment case in 2008 against a surgeon who forced himself on her while she was training at a Melbourne Hospital. Dr Tan didn't tell anyone what had happened until the surgeon started giving her reports that were so bad they threatened the career she had worked so hard for. But McMullin warns complaining to the supervising body is the ‘worst thing’ trainees could do. ‘Despite that victory, she has never been appointed to a public position in a hospital in Australasia…Her career was ruined by this one guy asking for sex on this night. And realistically, she would have been much better to have given him a blow-job on that night.’  (Dean and Slater)

This is the reality of sexual harassment in the culture of Patriarchy, where so many avenues of justice are corrupted that to those on the front lines it does not seem worth fighting for. Many in the medical profession, women’s rights activists, and sexual abuse support groups have called McMullin’s statements a terrible reflection, and “appalling.” While this may be true, it is far more appalling how entrenched sexual harassment is around the world, and activists would do well to remember this when speaking out against someone taking a brutally level headed approach to the reality of her position. There is a lot of double speak going on around McMullin’s comments. While the president of the Australian Medical Association of Victoria, Dr. Tony Bartone decried her statements as, “This old view of acceptance needs to be eradicated…Sexual assault is a crime and will not be tolerated by our society. The medical profession is not exempt from this maxim” (Dean and Slater). This easy politically correct words from someone’s whose job is secure and does not have to deal with the reality of harassment (Phillips, and Schneider). 

In response to these easy words, Dr. McMullin emphasizes real action which protects the interests of women in the medical profession would be better than platitudes. She shares that the “’Anglo-Saxon old boys’ club’ that favors men, should create an independent body to hear complaints about misconduct and demonstrate that complainants will be listened to and protected” (Medew). The current laws prohibiting job decisions based on prejudice do not work for racism or sexism. While Dr. Tan was passed over for promotions again and again, and consistently discredited, she knows it was because she spoke out against harassment, but “They can always say you weren't good enough. They can say your abilities were not as good as the next candidate’s” (Medew). Therefore, their must be more objective standards in which to root out this inherent corruption of Patriarchy, blaming the victim, and reinforcing stigmas through subtle collusion which is obvious in action but difficult to prove. 

In response to the hailstorm of controversy her statements created, Dr. McMullin was unsurprised, having been around the bend many times with this issue. After all, the women’s liberation movement has been going on for a long time, and real progress is slow going. Living in the cruelty of the reality of women in Patriarchy, “Dr McMullin stood by her comments on Saturday, saying her advice was practical and true, and it was offered because she is ‘so frustrated with what is going on’” (Dean and Slater). What’s going on is that women must gain an expensive education and career to support themselves, and the very real violence of jealous and small minded men is one of the many hurdles to real self-sufficiency.

The harsh reality of the environment of sexual harassment which most women contend with came as a surprise to those who conducted the most current studies. Dr. Reshma Jagsi of the University of Michigan recognizes the need to protect women as over half of new doctors are women filling the gap in the industry. As a result, I was quite surprised,’ says Jagsi of the findings. Decades-old surveys have suggested high levels of sexual harassment among doctors, but Jagsi says she thought that given the growing gender equity in medicine today, the percentage of women reporting severe sexual harassment would be much lower. ‘We all have seen the really horrible egregious cases but no one would expect so many women have had these experiences,’ she says. (Sifferlin)

The many different approaches to the reality of sexual harassment for female doctors reflect the lack of solidarity in the industry, and the need for greater standards of conduct which unionization would provide. For it is very likely that these instances of harassment are similar for nurses as well. 

Conclusion

Sexual harassment is a problem for women around the world in any profession, and even in their homes. The widespread sexualization and devaluation of half the population represents one of the fundamental delusions at the heart of Patriarchy which undermines the strength of collective culture. Women have stood up to fill the much needed roles of doctors, and as such they must be protected and supported as they work to protect the health of the culture.

End Notes

1: Butt, Craig.

2: Butt, Craig.

3: Butt, Craig.

4: Dean and Slater.

Works Cited

Butt, Craig. “Female surgeons feel obliged to give sexual favours, report finds.” SMH.com, 10 Sep. 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/national/bullying-endemic-among-surgeons-but-victims-too-scared-to-speak-up-report-finds-20150909-gjiuxl.html

Dean, Sarah, and May Slater. “'They think they own you, a lot of these guys': Female doctors say sexual harassment is a 'major issue' in hospitals following surgeon's claims that women should 'give blowjobs' or risk careers.” Daily Mail Australia, 8 Mar. 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2985621/Female-doctors-say-sexual-harassment-major-issue-hospitals-following-surgeon-s-claims-women-blowjobs-risk-careers.html

Medew, Julia. “Surgeon Caroline Tan breaks silence over sexual harassment in hospitals.” The Age, 12 Mar. 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/surgeon-caroline-tan-breaks-silence-over-sexual-harassment-in-hospitals-20150311-141hfi.html

Pearson, Catherine. “A Shocking Number Of Women Doctors Are Sexually Harassed.” The Huffington Post, 17 May 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-shocking-number-of-women-doctors-are-sexually-harassed_us_573a1494e4b077d4d6f3a825

Phillips, Susan P., and Margaret S. Schneider. “Sexual Harassment of Female Doctors by Patients.” The New England Journal of Medicine, (1993), pp. 1936-1939. Retrieved from: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199312233292607#t=articleTop

McKinstry, Shavon L. “Silent No More: Speaking Up Against Sexual Harassment.” Spark Summit, 12 Nov. 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.sparksummit.com/2013/11/12/silent-no-more-speaking-up-against-sexual-harassment/

Sifferlin, Alexandra. “30% of Female Doctors have been sexually harassed.” TIME, 17 May 2016. Retrieved from: http://time.com/4337372/30-of-female-doctors-have-been-sexually-harassed/