Over half of physicians who have been sexually harassed at work, either by a patient or coworker, have failed to report the incident, according to a Dec. 29 survey of 3,000 practicing physicians from Medscape.
Physicians who did report the incident were most likely to turn to a fellow colleague (22 percent), followed by a direct supervisor (16 percent), human resources (11 percent), the practice manager (6 percent), the physician practice owner (5 percent), workplace security (3 percent) and the police (2 percent).
Over half of physicians (51 percent) chose not to report incidences of harassment because they believed no action would be taken against the perpetrator.
Of the physicians who did report the incident, 60 percent said that no action was taken. About 23 percent said action was taken, while 18 percent were unsure what happened.
Thirty percent of physicians felt when they did report an incident of harassment, management trivialized the perpetrator's behavior. An additional 24 percent reported experiencing retaliation from management.