The presence, action, and influence of bystanders who witness sexual harassment against medical students

Abstract

Purpose

Sexual harassment (SH) is a widespread problem in academia, with a disproportionate impact on female medical students and those who experience marginalization via multiple systems of oppression (e.g. racism, heterosexism). Bystander intervention education is a potential approach which frames violence as a community issue where all members have a role to play in response and prevention. This study assessed the presence and influence of bystanders in SH situations for students at two medical schools.

Materials and methods

Data came from a larger U.S. campus climate study administered online in 2019 and 2020. The sample included 584 students who responded to validated survey questions about sexual harassment experiences, bystander behavior, disclosure, perceptions of the university response to SH, and demographics.

Results

More than one-third of respondents experienced some form of SH by a faculty/staff member. Bystanders were present for more than half of these incidents, yet they rarely intervened. When bystanders intervened, people were more likely to disclose an incident than not.

Conclusions

The results indicate that there are many missed opportunities for intervention and given the profound impact that SH has on the well-being of medical students, continued work is needed to determine effective intervention and prevention methods.

Practice points

• One-third of the medical students surveyed in our sample reported experiencing SH; women and LGBT medical students are more likely to experience SH than their counterparts.

• Bystanders are frequently present during SH incidents; however, the percentage of situations where bystanders actually intervened was extremely low.

• Bystander intervention was correlated with an increased likelihood to disclose. Thus, the implementation of bystander intervention education programs may help facilitate disclosure and reporting.

• Bystander intervention education programs are needed within academic medicine but must account for the role of power differentials.

Keywords:

• Sexual harassment
• bystander intervention
• disclosure

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jennifer Perillo for her assistance with copyediting and Marcus Mosley, MD, MS, for reviewing.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Ethical approval

IRB approval was received for participating schools.

Notes

1 All reported CIs in this section are Multiple Imputation Wilson Intervals (Lott and Reiter 2020).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Sarah McMahon

Sarah McMahon, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work where she is also Director of the Center for Research on Ending Violence.

Rachel A. Connor

Rachel Connor, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Research on Ending Violence at the Rutgers School of Social Work.

Victoria Frye

Victoria Frye, MPH, DrPH, is a Medical Professor at the CUNY School of Medicine.

Julia Cusano

Julia Cusano, PhD, is a Research Specialist and Campus Climate Assessment Coordinator at the Center for Research on Ending Violence at the Rutgers School of Social Work.

Laura Johnson

Laura Johnson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Temple University School of Social Work.