Spyke

Female surgeons sexually assaulted while operating

Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape have been referred to as surgery's open secret.

There is an untold story of women being fondled inside their scrubs, of male surgeons wiping their brow on their breasts and men rubbing erections against female staff. Some have been offered career opportunities for sex.

The analysis - by the University of Exeter, the University of Surrey and the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct in Surgery - has been shared exclusively with BBC News.

Nearly two-thirds of women surgeons that responded to the researchers said they had been the target of sexual harassment and a third had been sexually assaulted by colleagues in the past five years.

Women say they fear reporting incidents will damage their careers and they lack confidence the NHS will take action.

Female surgeons sexually assaulted while operatinghttps://www.bbc.com/news/health-66775015Open linkView original on lemmy.world
reddthat.com

Um, what the fuck? Can people just not be terrible for a little while, please?

193
cryballreply
sopuli.xyz

Seems like hollywood. Dangling career opportunities as a reward for constenting to unwanted advances etc.

49

Seems like every situation where there is a power differential.

72
feddit.de

People are also compassionate by nature. But society, upbringing, etc. can comprimise that.

8

Hey, i didn't say we have no virtues. It's only our (as a species) biggest fault.

1

Well.... no. In fact, Is argue most people are not egoistic by nature.

But maybe many can be conditioned to become egoistic. Human nature is that we have no one nature. We're very malleable. Power corrupts and all that.

5
devdadreply
programming.dev

Men are people too, so “can people not be terrible” is still accurate…

47
CybranMreply
kbin.social

Would you do the same for different races or religions?
"Yes, but essentially saying "not all muslims" allows muslims to continue to ignore and exclude themselves from the problem, making them actively a part of the problem."

10

Of course not, those aren't on the list of approved groups to generalise.

9

I suppose not all women are as rude as you. Does that ignore and exclude you from the problem?

2
devdadreply
programming.dev

What are you going on about?

Nobody in this thread has said “not all men”.

The top comment said “can people just not suck”, then OP responded saying “actually, in this case, only men suck”.

9
feddit.de

But they didn't say that? They said 'men are terrible' is included in the phrase 'people are terrible' because men are people.

6

Yes, in this case men are absolutely to blame, I am not denying this.

I believe they intended their comment as a general statement not specific to sexual harassment/assault. It felt like a fatalist response, not as an attempt to derail the conversation.

2

You came in here picking a fight but everyone else is an asshole. Ok there.

2

If it's not them who caused the problem, why can't they be excluded from the problem? Are you to blame for any other women's problems?

1

I don't think that would do anything. The problem isn't that they don't know it's wrong, it's that they know they won't face any consequences for their actions.

9

You might need an extra 1 year course on why it's not "a thing" to be lacking common sense

6
kbin.social

I heard that among surgeons there are a lot who have a personality disorder like narcissism or they are straight up sociopaths. Because of the prestige and power that comes with the job. Some feel like they are some sort of god because they have so much control over someone’s life when a patient lies on the table.

Not a surprise to me that this shit happens in the hospital.

117

I think there's also something to the idea that it takes someone who is a little..."off" for them to be able to cut other people open for their job. You have to be able to dehumanize them to a certain extent.

I worked in a hospital for a few years, and the folks working in the ORs were definitely the most interesting and often most intimidating crowd, and you did NOT fuck with the surgeons, they were the kings and queens of the floor.

29
lemmy.world

The training pretty much filters neurotypicals. Most well-adjusted people won't sacrifice their entire life for a career and don't suffer from a savior complex that compels them to save lives. I'm certainly not advocating that surgery is unnecessary or that surgeons are bad people by default, but it takes a fair level of narcissism to put yourself in that position IMO

29
Gawanohreply
feddit.de

I heard scrubs is right about a lot of things.

49
Chetzemokareply
kbin.social

Am nurse. Can confirm. Scrubs is right about a LOT of things

44

How dare you! I would NEVER!!

(Unwanted cookies on the other hand, fair game ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

13
ttrpg.network

You have my attention, because I have always thought gelatin and pudding were separate and distinct cups.

9

Help me steal this, or we check the back of your trunk?

-Janitor

8
lemm.ee

My ER doc husband says it's probably the most accurate medical show

20
dan1101reply
lemm.ee

Most jokes are based in truth. Except absurdist humor.

22
lemmy.world

Even if you had like no morals at all, that type of behavior has to disqualify someone from being a surgeon. They're sabotaging the work they're supposed to be doing.

73
lemmy.world

"Dear neurosurgeon man, I know you have like 15 years of college and 20 years of experience and you are the only qualified neurosurgeon in 100 mile radius but remember that one time you rubbed your dick on that intern? Yeah, your going to need to let the next 15 patients die and we are going to need to let you go. I know it downgrades us from a level one trauma center, hundreds of people might die, and we will lose MILLIONS of dollars by letting you go, but it's the right thing to do" - Said no chief of surgery ever.

They just pay the lawsuits and move on. It's shitty, and it's why surgeons are giant dicks. They don't have to treat conscious patients and they get away with anything because they are nearly irreplaceable.

32

They're getting in the way of their own replacements, creating a hostile environment preventing people from working and gaining experience.

20

To be fair, I'd rather have surgeons be above the law than rich people.

At least they're doing something good for society.

-3
MataVatnikreply
lemmy.world

Have you met/partied with medical students who are doing their residencies? I have, and my opinion of doctors has radically changed since then.

17

Pretty much, I saw something similar with PhD students. It's like they are infantilized adults from being in school for so long.

3

Even worse, to unleash an untrained surgeon out to the world in exchange for sex.

6
lemmy.world

men rubbing erections against female staff

Imagine getting aroused while working, doing surgery, surrounded by other people. I would think any one of those three would preclude the possibility.

49

I would guess it is how they respond to a highly stressful environment. But that would only excuse the arousal, not the sexual assault.

25
Azzureply
lemm.ee

Meh, I've gotten erections in the weirdest circumstances, it's not necessarily happening because of the situation, but in spite of it. Still would've never thought to rub it on someone, lol

11

Sometimes it seems like my dick just has it's own section of my brain that's just unaffected by everything else that may be happening....

That doesn't mean I act on it or SA people though.

2

Maybe they're getting an erection cuz they're falling asleep of boredom

2
lemm.ee

You ever notice how in almost any industry, hobby, geographical area or any other demographic you care to pick, a story about sexual assault will get traction and then people in that demographic will be like "Yeah, sexual assault is kind of an open secret here"? Surgery. Fucking surgery. Someone is trying to give someone a new lease on life, a gift most precious that very few can bestow, and someone else is like "I'll bet I can get a fistful of tiddy", and an entire room full of people are like "This is fine and normal. Let's not do anything about it."

45

To be honest I'm not surprised. Have you ever met a surgeon before? Quite a few assholes who think they're King of the world.

15

Found a study that looked at the correlation between difference in hierachial status within the workspace and sexual objectification. In short they found that women sexually objectify men regardless of status, men sexually objectified women of a higher status then them much more than women of lower status.

I wonder if this plays in here as well. Since surgery has some of the most arrogant asshats regardless of gender.

Shit like this keeps making me lose trust in men. Having some decent male friends who are married and have kids, counter balances it. Though now, I always assume that any man is perfectly capable of being a predator.

3
lemmy.world

Full stats by the way:

Among women, 63.3% reported being the target of sexual harassment versus 23.7% of men

29.9% of women had been sexually assaulted versus 6.9% of men

10.9% of women experiencing forced physical contact for career opportunities (a form of sexual assault) versus 0.7% of men

Being raped by a colleague was reported by 0.8% of women versus 0.1% of men

Not sure why it keeps being framed as “versus” like it’s some sort of competition and it doesn’t mean both sexes get sexually harassed and that’s not fucking okay for either.

44
iegodreply
lemm.ee

That's a fundamental misunderstanding of scientific/mathematical language used in statistical studies.

12
Syrcreply
lemmy.world

Considering the title of the study is “Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights”, I feel like the stress on the ratio is intentional.

2
feddit.de

I wonder if you also write this, but with genders reversed, under every report and article about "lonely men" or "men dying by suicide".

1
Syrcreply
lemmy.world

Link me one article about men’s problems with depression that dismisses women’s problems like this one does and I can tell you my opinion.

0
Syrcreply
lemmy.world

That’s not even an article. That’s a support page, in a support site, under the “men” section. Obviously they don’t mention women, like in support pages for women they don’t mention men.

And I’m not that great at using Kbin, but it seems to me the most upvoted article on that community is this one. From that article:

Furthermore, the absence of male teachers in early education can perpetuate gender stereotypes and suggest that caregiving is a women’s job.

In order to achieve gender equality, the researchers said, it is necessary to ensure that women have equal opportunities in traditionally male-dominated fields such as STEM while also creating opportunities for men to work in historically feminine/HEED positions.

That seems like pretty supportive for an article that should be on the same level of one that states “male and female surgeons live different realities” in the face of 1/4th of them having reported sexual harassment.

0
lemmy.world

Who remembers the show scrubs and the few times we saw episodes around the female surgeons in the show. There was one chick that got under Turk's skin but she was the better surgeon... kelso took turk to medical conference and the only reason why in the show was cause of the other surgeons gender... then there was the blond boss of Turk who specifically talks about the targeted harassment.... this was all early 2000-2010s....

29
sopuli.xyz

While the report shows men are also subject to some of this behaviour (24% had been sexually harassed), it concludes men and women surgeons are "living different realities".

What do you mean "living different realities". It's the same reality where people cannot stay for themself, no matter who they are. They unhappy with their life and so want to force themself on others? They can force their head in dirt

27
Syrcreply
lemmy.world

Article talking about female surgeons and their struggles at work

“Oh by the way one in four male surgeons gets sexually harassed too”

Article keeps talking about women

Like, really what the fuck? Why is that just a small thing in the middle of the article that’s presented as barely relevant? Would it have hurt them to remove “female” from the headline and have the article talk about the whole culture, maybe interviewing a male as well?

Seriously, the double standard is ridiculous. The entire field seems to be corrupt and fucking horrible to work in, but only one side of the coin matters?

0
SSUPIIreply
sopuli.xyz

"But that's not an issue because they are living a different reality"

Seriously, those two words are what make me angry about the article mostly, not only the way too small and degrading talk about this happening to the other gender too.

2

'tought it out, buttercup' and other things along the same lines get (got?) pistoned into boys' minds as soon as they are (were?) able to understand it. would they even know what being on the receiving end of sexual assault is growing up? high school level jokes say that it's only assault if it comes from a source you do not specifically approve of. been a while since I've been in high school but I would imagine no significant change has happened lately? or, at least there was no significant change for the generations mentioned in the article.

point being, it's unpleasant, but different realities are, it seems, still a thing. maybe this'll get fixed in a couple more generations?

I wonder how many respondents of the traditional male upbringing were truthful in their answers (after all, admitting you were sexually assaulted is not the 'manliest' of traits in said dogma...)

2
Jumpinshipreply
lemmy.world

Weird nitpick on the article. I could do the same for your comment

-20
lemm.ee

Apparently when I'm coming out of anesthesia I'm a massive perv and will make really inappropriate come ons to the medical staff. I feel even worse about it now that I know they already have to deal with it from their coworkers. I already warn them that it happens so at least they are forwarned right?

24
KairuBytereply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

I think generally, they understand that you’re not in control of yourself. It’s like being drunk, but you didn’t make the choice to drink in this case.

A bit of an assumption on my part, since I’m not medical staff. And of course it won’t be universal.

20

Like being blackout drunk to the point you're not even aware you're awake, while you're awake

4
lightnsfwreply
reddthat.com

This is a huge fear of mine. I've not been anesthetized since I was a kid but I have a filthy mind. I worry what will come out of my mouth if I'm ever in that situation. I wish I could be like "can you just gag me til I sober up"?

2
lemmy.ml

I always get erections while cutting people too

/s

14

This is basically the story of how a scary number of serial killers became serial killers.

1
kbin.social

I absolutely disagree that humanity needs to be destroyed because a bunch of men can't stop sexually abusing those around them, but the fact that it seems easier than ever getting them to stop really goes to show how bad the problem really is.

25

I feel like some people simply want that this gets accepted as natural. It has become normalized and many feel triggered by even mentioning this problem.

5

No need. Homo sapiens is near the end anyway. Doesn't matter how it ends, if we get replaced by AIs, the next "Homo geneticmodified"or get wiped out. Kind of awesome to know, right? After 250,000 years, we're among one of the last Homo sapiens. Peak Homo sapiens.

You know what that means, "Homo sapiens"? It means "wise man".

We're going to get completely ridiculed for doing that in the future. Who the fuck even calls themselves "wise man". So lame.

-14