Medicus April 2016

C O V E R S T O R Y

Dr Chris Wilson and Dr Michael Page Co-Chairs, AMA (WA) Doctors in Training Committee

A simple, conservative knee- jerk reaction to any type of change, is to declare that political correctness has gone mad. This may be true in some areas. Meticulous attendance to political correctness in all of its right and wrong forms has certainly provided a boon for employment in government middle management. So, have modern definitions of sexual harassment gone too far? Have the community, judiciaries and legislators created a situation in which harmless behaviour can be twisted into vexatious allegations? We would argue that this is not the case. Sexual harassment has existed, in all of its currently recognised forms, since the dawn of time. It has always been based on the exploitation of power differentials, and inappropriate behaviour has always been considered inappropriate by those at the receiving end, whether it occurred in 1916, 1986 or now. The spectrum of deleterious effects experienced by

the victim – from mild discomfort or unease through to outright physical and psychological injury – has not changed. What has changed is the empowerment of the vulnerable party in an imbalanced power relationship to seek redress for alleged violations. The community, through its recognition of the underlying causes of sexual harassment, has rightly facilitated the empowerment of victims in this regard, while equally importantly maintaining the presumption of innocence on behalf of the accused. Clearly, this is why medicine has a problem. Largely self-regulated and with deeply ingrained hierarchical structures, it has neither fully allowed the contemporary broader community’s expectations to shape its culture, nor itself gone far enough to genuinely empower individuals who have been unjustly treated. Concerns that allowing modern standards to apply to cases of alleged sexual harassment within the medical profession will lead to a

Concerns that allowing modern

standards to apply to cases of alleged sexual harassment within the medical profession will lead to a flurry of vexatious claims constitute, in essence, systematised

victim-blaming and a denial of unbiased hearings to claimants

flurry of vexatious claims constitute, in essence, systematised victim-blaming and a denial of unbiased hearings to claimants. Both claimants and accused parties deserve to be heard, have a presumption of innocence, and have a strictly confidential hearing, conducted independently and to the standards and expectations expected by the community at large of a profession that it holds in high regard. ■

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