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.
In 1999 I had to work on site at a client’s London offices in order to prep them for Y2K. Never before or since have I seen such blatant misogyny nad sexual harassment at the workplace. Every office and every location I went to it was the same.
That experience deeply influenced my decisions when I decided to open satellite offices in London and Ireland and we have never had an incident.
Culture starts from the top.
Just out of curiosity, what are your policies regarding sexual misconduct/harassment?
