Frequency, barriers, outcomes, and consequences of reporting sexual harassment in clinical oncology.

Sexual harassment is increasingly recognized as widely prevalent in medicine. Broad efforts at the organizational and society level are working to address this inequity, but many of these efforts rely on reporting to eradicate problematic behaviors and shift culture. We examined, among oncologists experiencing sexual harassment, the frequency of reporting, as well as barriers, outcomes, and consequences of reporting. Among 271 survey respondents, 217 reported sexual harassment from peers or superiors or from patients or families. Most harassed oncologists (n = 148, 68%) did not report the event to authority because of concerns about future negative consequences for themselves. Among the minority who reported harassment (n = 31, 14%), 52% felt their concerns were not taken seriously and 55% reported no action was taken as a result of their report. Furthermore, 52% experienced retaliatory behavior. Addressing these findings may help to inform the change necessary to create an antiharassment culture in oncology.

Incidence, Nature, and Consequences of Oncologists' Experiences With Sexual Harassment.

PURPOSE: The incidence and impact of workplace sexual harassment (SH) of oncologists requires rigorous characterization. METHODS: Oncologists identified by ASCO's Research Survey Pool and social media outreach completed validated measures of SH (encompassing gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion) and four outcomes (mental health, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and sense of workplace safety) over the previous year. Multivariable regression models assess the impact of SH on the four outcomes. RESULTS: Of 271 cisgender respondents (153 women and 118 men), 189 (70%) experienced SH in the past year alone by peers and/or superiors (80% of women v 56% of men, P < .0001). Specifically, 186 (69%) experienced gender harassment (79% of women, 55% of men, P < .0001), 45 (17%) unwanted sexual attention (22% of women, 9% of men, P = .005), and 7 (3%) sexual coercion (3% of women, 2% of men, P = .42). SH by patients and/or families in the past year was experienced by 143 (53% overall: 67% of women, 35% of men, P < .0001). Specifically, 141 (52%) experienced gender harassment (66% of women, 34% of men, P < .0001), 15 (6%) unwanted sexual attention (5% of women, 6% of men, P = .80), and 3 (1%) sexual coercion (1% of women, 1% of men, P = .72). Multivariable analysis showed that past-year SH by peers and/or superiors was significantly associated with decreased mental health (ß = -0.45, P = .004), sense of workplace safety (ß = -0.98, P < .001), and job satisfaction (ß = -0.69, P = .001), along with increased turnover intentions (ß = 0.93, P < .0001). Past-year SH by patients and/or families was significantly associated with decreased mental health (ß = -0.41, P = .002), sense of workplace safety (ß = -0.42, P = .014), and increased turnover intentions (ß = 0.58, P = .0004). There were no significant interactions between the respondents' gender and the SH scores in any of the four outcome models, signifying no difference in impact between men and women oncologists. CONCLUSION: This study using validated measures of SH to systematically characterize oncologists' workplace experience demonstrates substantial incidence of SH in the previous one year alone and its impact on men and women oncologists, informing the need for and design of effective protective and preventive measures.