When the #MeToo movement tore the veil of silence drawn around victims of sexual harassment last year‚ the world sat up and took notice. The Times reports that at first it swept through the dazzle of celebrity and shook the structures of power in the film industry. Names emerged‚ leaving furious fans all over the globe in their wake: Harvey Weinstein‚ Bill Cosby‚ Kevin Spacey‚ Sylvester Stallone …
Now, a new study has come out detailing horrific levels of sexual harassment in a far less public profession‚ one where events take place in concealed operating rooms‚ sterile laboratories and behind the green curtains of hospital beds.
The study – which took two years to research on 36 campuses in the US – has been released by the National Academies of Sciences‚ Engineering and Medicine (Nasem)‚ detailing how around 50% of female science and medical students experience sexual harassment.
The report says no such comprehensive survey has been done locally‚ but given the high prevalence of rape and sexual harassment in other research reports‚ it is hard to imagine South Africa’s female science and medical students are better off than their US counterparts.
The research concluded that sexual harassment proliferates in environments where it is perceived as being tolerated. In other words‚ perpetrators quickly pick up the culture of a place and respond to the cues which tell them it’s okay to behave like that. Surgery and emergency medicine in particular were red-flagged: because they are male-dominated and rely on the speed that a hierarchical working environment can offer‚ they represent fertile ground for sexual harassment.
Residents (doctors who are training to specialise) were especially targeted‚ as their desire to climb the ladder was abused by older members of staff. Such treatment is seen as “being part of what women are expected to endure to succeed”. The study found that the problem is driving female researchers out of the field and stopping careers in their tracks.
Paula Johnson‚ co-chair of the committee that worked on the study is quoted in the report as saying: “The cumulative effect of sexual harassment is extremely damaging. It’s critical to move beyond the notion of legal compliance to really addressing culture.”
The report says prestigious medical journal The Lancet has thrown its weight behind the study‚ calling for urgent action and committing itself to keep reporting on the issue.
“Recommendations for preventing sexual harassment include zero tolerance‚ improved transparency and accountability‚ and increased representation of women at all levels. The Lancet is committed to publishing scholarship that addresses gender inequality across science‚ medicine‚ and global health‚” the editorial said.
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-06-30-half-of-women-in-science-and-medicine-sexually-harassed/"]The Times report[/link]