Abstract
Sexual harassment and gender discrimination overlap affecting people (including children) of all genders, however data shows an overwhelmingly high prevalence of violence or harassment experienced by women in areas of conflict, professional life and in their homes as well as in the healthcare workplace. It is pervasive, persistent and all too common. Workplace sexual harassment an discrimination although illegal, is particularly is more common in women who are young, early in their careers, in temporary employment, from under-represented or marginalised groups based on ethnicity, immigrant status, gender non-conformity or disability. Majority of perpetrators are men, who are older and enjoy the privilege of disproportionate power and in certain toxic male-dominated healthcare environments. Two recent stories of sexual harassment in healthcare prompted many women to follow suit and share similar stories referring to flashbacks, post-traumatic stress, damage to careers, pressure to leave their job, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, brought about by their experiences. Yet there are examples of women as role models breaking down historical barriers such as Hilary and Chandi in their polar adventures. Tackling such structural inequality requires remedies that go beyond incremental approaches focussed on individuals and include transformation of the organisational and societal climate by interventions, affirmative policies and courageous, compassionate leadership. Workplace sexual harassment and discrimination is unacceptable, not inevitable and needs to be eradicated.
Highlights
During the transition from 2021 to 2022, two very distinctive and disparate stories caught our attention
The first, was one of a colossal achievement by Captain Preet Chandi (Twitter @PreetChandi10) of the British Army, who walked unaccompanied, a gruelling 700 miles in 40 days, in temperatures as low as -50°C, to reach the South Pole. This made her the first woman of South Asian origin to accomplish this feat and an allied health professional. It has been over 100 years since the first AfricanAmerican, Matthew Henson, reached the North Pole in 1909 [1] and in 2007, Barbara Hillary, became the first African-American woman to set foot on the geographical North Pole
Captain Preet Chandi has become an inspirational role model and demonstrated a great personal victory at a time when the healthcare workforce is battered from the multiple surges of a global pandemic
Summary
During the transition from 2021 to 2022, two very distinctive and disparate stories caught our attention. The first, was one of a colossal achievement by Captain Preet Chandi (Twitter @PreetChandi10) of the British Army, who walked unaccompanied, a gruelling 700 miles in 40 days, in temperatures as low as -50°C, to reach the South Pole This made her the first woman of South Asian origin to accomplish this feat and an allied health professional (physiotherapist). Four years later Hilary became the first AfricanAmerican to reach the South Pole.[2] Captain Preet Chandi has become an inspirational role model and demonstrated a great personal victory at a time when the healthcare workforce is battered from the multiple surges of a global pandemic Concurrent to this story of great accomplishment, comes another of disillusion and disgust, one that like the former, diffused rapidly through social media. To really understand the root causes of sexual harassment, we need to view the problem through an intersectional lens.[16]
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