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The latest accusations against men in the media, politics, business, and film industries have highlighted the need for a renewed focus on the topic of sexual harassment. Accountability and corporate responsibility are now in the spotlight through a cultural shift from the #metoo and #timesup movements. The field of medicine is now getting specific attention with Time’s Up Healthcare’s launch in February 2019 (Thielking, 2019).
Statistics prove the Time’s Up Healthcare movement is needed. One study, conducted in 2017 by STAT and Medscape, discovered that in the last five years, more than 50% of doctors had patients make offensive remarks to them (Corley, 2019). Another 2017 survey conducted by Medscape showed nearly 50% of physicians, and over 70% of nurses had a patient harass them (Frellick, 2018). In the medical industry, both genders agree, with 70% affirmation, that sexual harassment is an issue (Saley, 2019). Addressing these organizational dynamics become critical as healthcare organizations need the contribution of all employees, including the expertise of women, to effectively introduce digital economy driven technologies like telemedicine and ZOOM video conferencing technologies to collaborate with experts and respond to global emergencies like COVID 19 and save lives.
The field of medicine has several unique characteristics that can increase sexual harassment, such as a hierarchical structure, a predominately male supervised industry, and a male-dominated environment (Smith, 2018; van Dis, Stadum, & Choo, 2018). In a recent hospital case, the top position of attending physician was named as the high verbal abuser highlighting the significance of the issue in the technology-driven field of healthcare (Ducharme, 2019). People who are victims often state their plan to leave their job or industry to get away from their abuser poses a more massive challenge than other fields due to the loss of seniority and the level of training each job requires (International Center for research on women, n.d.). Furthermore, of the top 100 United States hospitals, less than 30% of women sat on hospital boards, and less than 35% were members of a leadership team (Joyce, 2018).
Additionally, the elevated power of the male supervisor offers perceived protections for their acts as victims are suspicious of what could happen to their jobs and livelihood if the victim speaks out against the perpetrator (Cooper, 2017). This dynamic creates some unique challenges in environments where employees must collaborate and trust each other to respond to emergencies created earthquakes, pandemics, mass shootings, and terror attacks.
Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted, nonconsensual sexual behavior that impacts the victim's life (Blum, 2019). It can be both verbal and nonverbal and includes unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors (Blum, 2019). Harassment can take many forms, such as verbal acts of name-calling or written statements or actions that may be physically threatening (Blum, 2019). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides a clear explanation of what to report about acts of sexual harassment (Equal Employment Opportunity, 2019). According to the EEOC (2019), it is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person's sex. Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature (EEOC, 2019). Harassment does not have to be sexual, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general (EEOC, 2019).
Quid pro quo and a hostile work environment are legal definitions of sexual harassment (Boyer, 2018). Quid pro quo refers to behaviors by a superior who promotes or demotes an employee contingent upon sexual favors in the workplace (Boyer, 2018).