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.
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 your solution is?
Teaching male children that sexual harrassment and rape are wrong.
That involves persuading their parents they should care. Note I said persuading, not teaching. They know damn well it’s wrong and they don’t care as long as they can get away with it.
I think their point is that going to the media might have been the best option.
Edit:spelling
What result did it achieve?
I really don’t get how going to media is better than going to the police lol
But it is their decisions to make.
Well, the result is yet to be seen, the article was only published today.
We see these regularly…
Only time it really worked when it was #metoo season and dozens of celebrities came out with accusations to point where there was sufficient evidence to convict some of these pests.
I guess time will tell but I bet we won’t hear about it again