Surgery's #Metoo Movement - Results of a Sexual Harassment Survey in an Academic Institution
Jacqueline Wu, *Susan Kartiko, *Aditi Kapil
Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA
Objective: To determine the prevalence of sexual harassment among general surgery residents and teaching faculty at an academic medical center as well as to analyze the differences in incidence of sexual harassment between males and females, trainees and attendings.
Design: Anonymous, validated online survey
Setting: Academic medical center
Patients: not applicable
Interventions: not applicable
Main Outcome Measures: incidence of sexual harassment within 12 months of the survey and differences in the incidence between genders, trainees and faculty.
Results: Eighty-six individuals (39 residents, 47 faculty) received the survey. Overall response rate was 74.4% (90% of residents; 62% of faculty). Seventy-one percent and 63% of residents reported witnessing or experiencing sexual harassment respectively within the past 12 months while prevalence was 62% and 48% for faculty. Frequency of sexual harassment was not statistically different between males and females and residents and faculty. Fifty percent of sexual harassment occurred on hospital grounds; 73% occurred between members of the surgery department. Half of the offenders were a person of authority. The majority of those experiencing sexual harassment did not report the incident (82%).
Conclusions: Sexual harassment is prevalent in academic institutions among both residents and faculty of all genders. Our data is similar to older data of other academic institutions and departments. More education around recognizing, preventing and reporting sexual harassment is needed. Further study involving multiple institutions is necessary to better assess the extent of this issue.
