Abuse whether it be physical, emotional or sexual is often a taboo topic, that is further entrenched by cultural and/or religious norms. However the ‘Me Too’ movement has opened up the conversation, and allowed victims a platform to speak about their experiences of sexual abuse, and has started a narrative of engaging with the topic.
The ‘ME TOO’ movement is an international movement started in 2006 with the vision of helping survivors of sexual violence and sexual harassment. By building a community of advocates, driven by survivors, in creating solutions to interrupt sexual violence and harassment in their communities as well as using the idea of “empowerment through empathy” to show survivors that they are not alone in their journey of abuse and healing.(metoo. 2006)
The movement was originally started in the USA but has spread globally via social media and resonates on South Africa where 25% of women in South Africa are assaulted by their boyfriend or husband every week. 1 in 2 South African women will be raped in her lifetime as well as 41% of all female homicide is perpetrated by the women’s partner. Family and domestic violence is a common occurrence in South Africa. (Maluleke, 2018). These Statistics don’t even scratch the surface of reality faced by women , who are unable or unwilling to report abuse for various reasons: social, cultural, religious, familial pressure, humiliation and a lack of social services. (Stopes. 2017)
I often see patients that have been abused by their partners. From minor incidences to severe life threatening situations. In my experiences the patients are often repeatedly admitted to the hospital. A patient of mine; a 29 year old female, who was admitted after her boyfriend and father of her son, pushed her out of a second story building because she wanted to go out and visit her mother. She sustained multiple fractures. 3 months prior to this she was also admitted after he beat her with a brick, breaking her arm and causing her to have a minor head injury. Although the patient had gone to the police, she was scared to report him as she was worried for her and her son’s life.
What can we do in situations like this? This young women did not have the resources financially or the family support to leave her boyfriend. My first instinct would be to jump in and intervene but careful consideration and the failure to recognize nuance in the situations can often aggravate the problem. Perhaps training in how to deal with victims of abuse should be included in our curriculum, or protocols put in place that we can rely on when confronted with abuse.
On another aspect of sexual harassment, as a young female working in a hospital, there are many instances of male patient’s being inappropriate or making me feel uncomfortable. When walking into a male ward to treat a patient, often I am made to feel uncomfortable and sometimes even worried about my safety. Some patients will ‘cat-call’ at me and make inappropriate comments to me. I have learnt to ignore these remarks but I feel that it is unfair of these patients’ to put me in this situation, however I think every women has had this experience as it appears to be accepted in our society. I feel a need to maintain an environment of professionalism that does not condone sexual harassment and that should the situation arise we be allowed to request that another interdisciplinary team member be present when dealing with a patient that is making you feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
The momentum of the ‘Me Too’ movement should not be stifled, and the difficult conversations about the realities faced by survivors of abuse should not be ignored. Many of the societal norms that accept, ignore or perpetuate abuse need to be challenged, and the medical fraternity has a role to play in this too.
References:
metoo. 2006. You are not alone. Retrieved on the 06/10/2018 from https://metoomvmt.org/
R, Maluleke. 2018. Crime Statistics Series Volume V. Retrieved the 06/10/2018 from http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-40-05/Report-03-40-05June2018.pdf
M. Stropes. 2017. 10 reasons people don’t report rape and sexual assault. Retrieved 07/10/2018 from https://www.mariestopes.org.za/10-reasons-people-dont-report-rape-sexual-assault/
3 thoughts on “‘ME TOO’”
I found this piece to be extremely interesting and very relevant. I have never heard of the ‘ME TOO’ campaign and therefore was very intrigued with it. I did further research into the campaign and was moved by the stories of individuals who have had to live with being abused.
I like that you incorporated statistics of South Africa as it make one realize just how serious abuse is within our communities. However it would be interesting to see what the statistics are of men being abused? I understand that females may be the majority that are abused but there are also many cases in which the male is abused by the female partner.
I strongly agree that we as students should be educated in how to handful such situations as i have not come across a patient who has been abused. But if i was to i feel that i would also want to just jump in and get involved which isn’t always the best approach.
I understand how one can feel very uneasy in the working environment. While working at my current placement i had a patient signal me to come and talk to him, so naively i went to him to see what was wrong. He then came close to my face and asked me to kiss him. I wasn’t entirely sure what to do so i said no sternly, but i actually walked away feeling unsafe and quickly closed the student door behind me.
Overall this is a very well written piece which forces individuals to rethink the issue of Abuse in and around our country.
Thank you for making me aware of this movement. It seems like such a wonderful forum for survivors of abuse to interact and share in their struggles and experiences. I think it is a wonderful opportunity for the victim to be counselled through this process, even if it is not a face to face meet or even through the use of anonymous posts. I really enjoyed the balance that your post had in terms of using literature and linking it back to a personal clinical experience.
I find it difficult to relate to your experience, as I have not personally experienced a case where a patient is being abused, but I think that it would be helpful as a physiotherapist working within a hospital environment to be aware of the different referral procedures to different disciplines, for example, a social worker or a psychologist. Marcus (2018), reports that the reason for asking and questioning patients regarding bruises you may see (especially if it is a trend that you are noticing, is so that you are able to educate the patient and to ensure that they know that you are there if they need help. It will also be helpful if you are able to give them names and numbers of organisations that are specifically trained in dealing with domestic violence cases. By developing this trusting relationship with you, the patient may be more inclined to reveal information to you, as going to a health professional does not carry the same stigma as that of going to the police.
There are many instances of patients being in appropriate or making you feel uncomfortable, but I think as a health professional, you definitely have the authority to say something about it, but in a stern way that they do not think that you are taking it as a joke or encouraging it. If they continue to harass you in this manner, it will definitely need to be reported to your superior. In an article written by Rossheim (2018), if subjected to harassment from a patient, it is essential that you firmly confront the person harassing you and tell them that you are not interested in the attention, the harassment must be reported to your superior as well as document the situation in writing – either in a formal complaint or in the clinical notes. If after all this fails, take yourself off the case for your own safety or as you mentioned have another health professional in the room.
References:
Marcus, E. (2018). Doctors Can Play Crucial Role in Cases of Domestic Violence. Retrieved on 11 October 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/20abus.html
Rossheim, J. (2018). How Nurses Can Fight Sexual Harassment. Retrieved on 11 October 2018, from https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/how-nurses-can-fight-sexual-harassment
Hi Caitlin
I enjoyed your piece because I appreciate how you related the experiences we deal with as woman in the workforce to the #meto movement. It makes your writing current and therefore relevant. I enjoyed that the information is fact based, and felt that reading your piece was enriching as I learned from your facts about the movement.
I can relate to this in a big way, not only from hospital experiences but from previously relying on an income from within the restaurant industry. I experienced a direct form of sexual harassment both verbally and physically on a daily basis from both managers and owners of various restaurants, who knew that I was reliant on my income and would not be able to afford to leave due to the drop in cash flow that training at a new restaurant would result in. I needed to respond to their sexual harassment in a way that didn’t offend them because I needed my job but it made me nauseous every day, so #metoo.
I feel that my experience strengthened my now firm zero tolerance approach for harassment in the hospital setting. I would have liked to hear a more detailed description of the ways you went about dealing with the harassment both at the time, and how you were left feeling when you got home. This would give me an opportunity to draw from your strength as a woman, and open new ways for me to deal with these situations.
Your writing is easy to read with a logical flow which makes your points easy to understand. Have you considered altering your grammar choices? I feel that reviewing your sentence structure and punctuation would improve the flow of your writing. It may help to check your in text references, as the punctuation is not correct throughout.
Reading this has definitely reminded me of the fact that I am not the only one dealing with harassment at work, and I feel that I will be more mindful towards supporting my colleges in this regard.