Katie* is one of three female paramedics who have shared their experiences of being “hounded” for sexual favours in return for passing training, getting a promotion or simply keeping their jobs.

Although these remarks were often dismissed as “jokes” or “banter”, Katie says, occasionally it shifted into a “monumental” abuse of power.

“Handjobs. Blowjobs. They were obsessed with blowjobs,” she says.

Once I made a mistake with a patient, and a colleague tried to blackmail me into having sex with him. It was horrendous. When I told him no, he said, “watch your back, because I could rape you”.

I don’t know how you change this culture. When posters saying “We Do Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment” were put on the doors in the ladies toilets, a man crossed out the “Not” and drew a penis next to a woman’s mouth.

  • sunzu@kbin.run
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    71
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    The rape threat should have been reported to the police when it happened imho

    Doing via media won’t get anything done. If the org is really this bad, they are covering up and adjusting as we speak.

    You can’t fix this shit via court of opinion. Pests don’t care.

    • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      54
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      The rape threat should have been reported to the police when it happened imho

      There’s a better chance of that happening nowadays vs as little as a year ago. And “reporting” often bears a trauma of its own.

      Five, ten years ago?
      Buried.

      • sunzu@kbin.run
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        15
        ·
        2 months ago

        There would still be a record of incident even if pigs do nothing.

        Criminal accusations purely based on a story will never resonate with public since anyone can make accusations for any reason…

    • Ozymati@lemmy.nz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 months ago

      And then the reporter can enjoy their retaliatory unemployment and blacklisting, probably.