The Experience of Male Physicians with Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment: a Qualitative Study.

Abstract

Sexual harassment and gender-based harassment are common in medicine; however, there is little in the literature regarding men's experience with gender-based and sexual harassment. The objective of this study was to better understand the experience men have with sexual and gender-based harassment in medicine. We developed and piloted an interview guide based on a review of the literature and conducted semi-structured interviews of male physicians, from trainees to attendings, at a tertiary care facility. Participants were recruited via email between April and August of 2019. These interviews were transcribed verbatim and, using an iterative coding approach based in grounded theory, were coded and analyzed for themes. We conducted a total of 16 interviews. Five major themes were identified: (1) personal experiences of harassment, (2) witnessed harassment, (3) characterization of harassment, (4) impact of harassment, and (5) strategies for responding to harassment. The men reported experiences with sexual and gender-based harassment but were hesitant to define these encounters as such. They had minimal emotional distress from these encounters but worried about their professional reputation and lacked training for how to respond to these encounters. Many had also witnessed their female colleagues being harassed by both male patients and colleagues but did not respond to or stop the harassment when it originated from a colleague. We found that men experience sexual harassment differently from women. Most notably, men report less emotional distress from these encounters and often do not define these events as harassment. However, similar to women, men feel unprepared to respond to episodes of harassment against themselves or others. Whether to deter sexual harassment against themselves, or, more commonly, against a female colleague, men can gain the tools to speak up and be part of the solution to sexual harassment in medicine.