Medicus April 2016

C O V E R S T O R Y

I t is one of the most insidious practices in our society and no area of life or profession is immune, including the one in which most of the readers of Medicus work – the medical profession. Sexual harassment in society has been with us for thousands of years. But the battle to end this demonstration of power must be a concerted campaign by all of us, including the Australian Medical Association (WA). It goes on because we as a society basically are too self- programmed to not see it, tolerate it or completely ignore it. There are many males out there who are disgusted by it, and yet have tolerated it – even joked about it in order to handle it. But there are many of us who would have seen people destroyed by it, leaving their jobs or their education. Most of the time, perpetrators are believed first, with complainants forced to resign to make life easier for a company. Most countries now have legislation making sexual harassment a crime – but still it goes on.

Over the next few pages of commentary, concern and recommendations for action, we hope to shine some light on what continues to be one of the biggest and most serious issues that the profession continues to struggle with.

The AMA (WA) believes there is no place in the medical profession for sexual harassment. We are committed to a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and will continue to play a role in tackling this issue. We are also fully committed to supporting the cultural and attitudinal changes that need to occur in the medical profession. We know that the will and determination to improve the profession exists. In light of the heightened awareness and recognition of the damage caused by sexual harassment, the AMA (WA) determined it was incumbent upon us to ensure the issue is addressed. Ignorance and misunderstanding serve only to perpetuate inaction. We therefore made a decision to survey all medical practitioners and medical students in the State in order to establish the extent to which sexual harassment affects the profession in Western Australia. A major part of this cover story is to report the results of one of the biggest surveys ever done by the AMA (WA) of its members and non-members about a single issue.

There is no area of society – no matter what we tell ourselves – that can claim “it doesn’t happen here”.

As our front cover clearly shows, this issue of Medicus is about sexual harassment.

If anyone is not already aware of the pervasiveness of sexual harassment within the medical profession, then this edition will, unfortunately, clearly show that it is a serious and even an endemic problem.

When we sent out the AMA (WA) Survey on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (the Survey) last year, we were aware that such an emotive issue would be likely to provoke a strong response. We were not prepared, however, for what

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