Columnists
#MeToo
Did I mention #MeToo last week? I did. I am, like many of you, impressed by the number of people who have posted #MeToo on their social media pages. In a some manner, we are finding strength in those numbers. I imagine most people I know—mostly women—have been sexually assaulted and/or harassed, at least once, in their lifetime. Assaulted or harassed least once— and likely many more times. I know the assaults and harassments are not limited to women. For me, the harassment was almost a normal part of my working life. The sexual assault (in the form of a very public, gender-based humiliation), happened once at a hospital many years ago, and to this day I find it very difficult to acknowledge or speak about the incident. I didn’t, and don’t, talk about it because I know someone will judge me as the cause of the assault. I know many of you will read that line and wonder, “Why would she worry about being judged for being sexually assaulted?” Think about it, folks. It isn’t just the assailants who assault and then hide behind the notion of “she asked for it”.
We have been groomed to believe if a person is sexually assaulted or harassed, s/he somehow deserved it and, therefore, is responsible for it. This absurd notion isn’t something we were introduced to recently. It has always been the victim who “asks for it”. Victims who “ask for it” are often subtly remembered in songs, in advertising and marketing, in just about any religious context, on television, in magazines, in novels, on the streets, at work and around the family dining table. Apparently, a victim’s lot in life is to be assaulted or harassed. In just about every aspect of life, victims—women in particular—are sexualized, objectified, defamed and humiliated.
What to do. What to do. Well to start, #MeToo brought a huge amount of awareness to the problem. I, like many of you, was overwhelmed by the number of people who posted #MeToo. It gave me, personally, the sense of not being alone. It also made me realize all of these people couldn’t have been “asking for it” nor “deserve it”. What we need is accountability. The perpetrators of sexual assaults and harassments must be made accountable for their unwanted actions. The bystanders, the people who knew what was going on and did nothing, need to be made accountable for their inaction. We absolutely have to show all victims understanding, kindness and support. We must let them know the behaviour will not be tolerated at anytime or anywhere. The most difficult thing we must do is expose the behaviours/inci dents and the perpetrators. We can’t let those assaults and harassments be buried for any reason. We must insist that sexual assaults and harassments be addressed objectively and then ensure the appropriate steps are taken, wherever they occur—at home, at work, a church, at school, in public. We must insist upon a zero tolerance for the unwanted actions and zero tolerance for possible retaliations. In an institutional setting, where health and safety surveys are conducted, those surveys should begin to collect data about abuses and take action to stop it.
The perpetrator of such violence can be anyone and does not necessarily have to be the opposite sex. In my case (at the Branson Hospital in Toronto) the humiliation began at the admitting area and was perpetrated by a female RN and the humiliation continued in the OR with the doctor who happened to be a male. I was objectified and told if I complained it would taint the reputation of “two good medical practitioners” and then I would have to explain the details to someone. My silence enabled their violence.
#MeToo.
Comments (0)