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Sexual harassment in the health care field

On Behalf of | Oct 30, 2019 | Sexual Harassment At Work

Florida women who work in health care may face a significant amount of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. According to MedScape, the gap in women’s pay in that profession compared to men is, on average, $36,000 annually compared to $96,000. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found in 2018 that as many as 50% of all women medical students face sexual harassment, and sexual harassment is three times more likely for them compared to women who work outside the STEM fields.

Women face additional hurdles if they decide to have children. They receive more negative evaluations, and they lose over $10,000 in income when they take maternity leave. Women doctors are more likely to face pregnancy complications than women in other professions. This could be because of an inability to change their work schedules leading up to delivery.

However, women in health care deal with discrimination whether or not they have children. One 2017 paper found that female surgeons are more likely to be penalized if they have bad patient outcomes compared to men. During training, men get more superlatives in written evaluations than women. This happens despite the fact that according to several studies, when patients are cared for by women, they have better outcomes than when they are cared for by men.

Sexual harassment is a problem in all industries, and it may consistent of unwanted touching, ongoing sexual comments or other actions that cause discomfort. Many people still hesitate to report sexual harassment even when their workplace has a clear policy in place for dealing with it because they are concerned about how their career will be affected. Employees may want to consult with an attorney first to ensure that they understand their rights before pursuing a complaint through the workplace. If this is unsuccessful, the attorney may help with filing a claim with the EEOC.