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.
Male colleagues would even walk around the crew room with their penis sticking through the zip of their trousers and their pockets turned out. They’d swing it and sing Nelly The Elephant.
Holy shit is there a word for when you recognize that something is completely and undeniably reprehensible, but also completely fucking hilarious if you remove the problematic context?
Like, I would do this to my wife. Scratch that, I’m gonna do this to my wife and she’s gonna think it’s funny.
But, obviously, don’t do this to your co-workers, or really anyone that hasn’t given you prior consent to swing your dick around…
My gender sucks.
The number of arsehole men is too damn high. Whenever I see or hear these stories my blood boils.
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?
This is the real reason that women were brought into the general work force.
No… Real reason is so they are making the rich money and families have to consume more.
This is just poorly socialized likely older “men” being sex pests.
This is the kind of shit that happens when citizens don’t have the right to self defense. In the USA a woman could kill a man in self defense if they started a rape attempt. Without legal access to some kind of weapons for self defense a woman will almost always be at a significant disadvantage in a physical confrontation with a man. I support every woman’s inherent right to self-defense against rapists, and governments should too.
Wow there are so many downvoters on here, it’s sad that you all want those poor women to have no protection from being raped. Where I’m from the things this article describes are unheard of, because rapists know they will face consequences.
Absolutely. Spot on. Rape doesn’t exist in America and no American organizations could ever have a culture of abuse as described in this story.
Out of curiosity , what did you wear to Bill Cosby’s funeral? The same outfit you wore to Harvey Weinstein’s funeral?
I actually heard that people really believe that Hollywood is a haven for sexual predators and sexual abuse, including rape, is rampant throughout the American entertainment industry. Can you believe that?
Don’t they know the 2nd Amendment has eliminated both individual cases of rape and systemic sexual abuse?
Anywho, do you have any plans on watching USA Gymnastics this year?
That’s impossible, which you would know if you had read the comment I was replying to.
If you had read it, you would have learned that in America the 2nd amendment has prevented if not all, then the overwhelming majority, of all sexual assaults and rapes.
Which means that both men are dead.
Pepper sprays and tasers exist and can also equalize the playing field with far fewer people dying.
How about we teach boys to not treat women as less than instead of forcing women to have to defend themselves from sexual abusers?
Nip that shit in the bud.
Slow down Judge Dredd, having people killi each other with no need to provide proof or due process is not the happy world your brain is conjuring.
So you’re saying that the appropriate response to office sexual harassment is to start shooting lecherous coworkers? I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, but I don’t think you’ve thought this through.