Do you know what I think is most surprising about the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal? Absolutely nothing. Same story; different day. It was Bill Cosby and Bill O’Reilly last week and its Harvey Weinstein this week. Guaranteed it will be someone else next week. \u00a0And these are just the men who are rich and powerful enough to make the news.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t even deserve to be called news. Everyone knows that workplace sexual harassment exists in virtually every organization where a power imbalance exists \u2013 also known as practically everywhere.<\/p>\r\n
The world of healthcare is full of power imbalances \u2013 physicians and other healthcare providers, managers and staff, staff and students\u2026as well as any of the above and patients. However, I think we all recognize sexual impropriety of any form involving patients as being entirely unacceptable.\u00a0 What we often fail to identify are the numerous forms of sexual harassment \u2013 some subtle, some not so much – that are inflicted every day and in every way on healthcare providers by other providers of healthcare.<\/p>\r\n
Some informal research into sexual harassment in healthcare has observed that it is so commonplace now that \u201cit might as well be in the job descriptions\u201d. \u00a0We have become desensitized to it. \u00a0We even make excuses for it. How often have you heard, \u201coh, he\u2019s just kidding \u201cor \u201cthat\u2019s just the way he is\u2026he\u2019s harmless\u201d.\u00a0 And the complex power dynamic that exists within healthcare organizations often makes it challenging to bring allegations of harassment forward and to have those assertions addressed without repercussion (or what feels like repercussion).\u00a0 This is particularly true of students, who arguably have the least power in the workplace and are thus, the most at risk of being the victims of sexual harassment.<\/p>\r\n
Over the past two decades the CRTO has investigated a handful of cases of sexual harassment perpetrated by staff RTs on student RTs.\u00a0 And we heard the same \u201coh, it was just a joke\u201d and \u201che didn\u2019t mean anything by it\u201d types of responses.\u00a0 However, there is nothing particularly funny about having to stifle a full-body shudder when the person who is responsible for signing-off your competencies gives you a shoulder massage.\u00a0 Or having them regale you with the details of their love life.\u00a0 Students are often very reluctant to speak up in these situations because they depend on the staff RTs for good reviews and recommendations for possible future hiring.\u00a0 In the past, many student RTs have remained silent, although that has fortunately started to change.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
A number of years ago U.S Homeland Security coined the phrase \u201cif you see something, say something\u201d.\u00a0 The same thing applies here:\u00a0 employer-employee; male-female; staff-students \u2013 we all need to call people out on their unacceptable behaviours. And if you are the one being harassed, the CRTO encourages you to speak up. We can\u2019t change the fact that collectively the healthcare profession sat back and let of sexual harassment become part of the workplace culture. What matters is what happens now.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you know what I think is most surprising about the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal? Absolutely nothing. Same story; different day. It was Bill Cosby and Bill O’Reilly last week and its Harvey Weinstein this week. Guaranteed it will be someone else next week. \u00a0And these are just the men who are rich and powerful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16,25,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-employers-blog","category-members-blog","category-practice-blog","category-students-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n