Katie* is one of three female paramedics who have shared their experiences of being “hounded” for sexual favours in return for passing training, getting a promotion or simply keeping their jobs.
Although these remarks were often dismissed as “jokes” or “banter”, Katie says, occasionally it shifted into a “monumental” abuse of power.
“Handjobs. Blowjobs. They were obsessed with blowjobs,” she says.
Once I made a mistake with a patient, and a colleague tried to blackmail me into having sex with him. It was horrendous. When I told him no, he said, “watch your back, because I could rape you”.
I don’t know how you change this culture. When posters saying “We Do Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment” were put on the doors in the ladies toilets, a man crossed out the “Not” and drew a penis next to a woman’s mouth.
The rape threat should have been reported to the police when it happened imho
Doing via media won’t get anything done. If the org is really this bad, they are covering up and adjusting as we speak.
You can’t fix this shit via court of opinion. Pests don’t care.
The rape threat should have been reported to the police when it happened imho
There’s a better chance of that happening nowadays vs as little as a year ago. And “reporting” often bears a trauma of its own.
Five, ten years ago?
Buried.
There would still be a record of incident even if pigs do nothing.
Criminal accusations purely based on a story will never resonate with public since anyone can make accusations for any reason…
How many monsters have been put away where after they are convicted, we hear about the years and years of countless reports? Creating a “record” punishes the victim more than the criminal, and victims can be blacklisted if they are “difficult to work with.”
I’m with you that it’s better to report it, but we shouldn’t be blaming victims when they would rather not. We should be creating an environment with minimal barriers to reporting in order to protect victims from shame and retaliation.
And then the reporter can enjoy their retaliatory unemployment and blacklisting, probably.
