Survey of US gynecologic oncologists finds that approximately 64% have experienced sexual harassment.

Abstract

A survey conducted among the physician members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology found that approximately 64% of respondents experienced some form of sexual harassment during training or practice. The numbers were higher among women (71%) compared with men (51%). The abstract, presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, held May 31 to June 4, 2019, in Chicago, also found that only 17% of women and 10% of men reported the incidents to officials and that female practitioners were more likely than their male counterparts to say that gender affected their career advancement (34% vs 10%) and salary prospects (42% vs 6%). According to lead author Marina Stasenko, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the research is aimed at increasing awareness of sexual harassment and gender inequalities among female physicians, whose numbers are increasing in medicine. The anonymous survey, which was conducted in 2018, was modeled in part on a similar survey that the Association of American Medical Colleges has conducted since 2012. It was sent to all 1566 US-based physician members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. In total, there were 402 respondents, including 255 women and 147 men. The survey measured a range of types of sexual harassment, such as being subjected to sexist remarks (58% of women in training and 51% of women in practice said they had experienced this compared with 28% of men in training and 24% of men in practice), being denied opportunities for training (26% of women in training and 33% of women in practice reported this vs 17% of men in training and 19% of men in practice), unwanted sexual advances (30% of women in training and 23% of women in practice and 27% of men in training and 28% of men in practice experienced this), and being asked to exchange sexual favors for academic positions (4% of women and 2% of men in both training and practice reported this). Some respondents also said they had received lower evaluations or academic positions as a result of harassment (31% in women and 14% in men). Among the reasons participants gave for not reporting the incidents were believing they were not important enough (40%), assuming that nothing would be done about it (37%), or being afraid of retaliation (34%). Dr. Stasenko said she hopes the survey will lead to more discussions regarding sexual harassment in medicine, as well as interventions to improve the situation.