TESTIMONIALS. MeToo at the hospital: perspectives of an experienced doctor and a young intern on sexual violence
New meeting on hospital MeToo: Minister of Health Frédéric Valletoux receives orders from doctors and nurses, in particular, on Monday May 6. For the past month, people have spoken out, women have denounced verbal and physical attacks at the hospital, tolerated for decades under the guise of a tough and ribald attitude.
Does this so-called “rude” spirit still persist today? Are mentalities changing in hospitals? To find out, franceinfo interviewed two generations of women. Crossing perspectives: one is a 52-year-old doctor, the other a 24-year-old intern.
Now an anesthetist-resuscitator, Hélène realizes with hindsight that sometimes under the cover of humor, her male colleagues of all ages gave her a hard time 30 years ago, when she was a student at the hospital.
“Serious remarks, inappropriate gestures, stolen kisses, even (things) more serious, she adds. It was quite permanent and us girls, our job was to respond in a way that was not too unpleasant so as not to be ostracized too much. It went something like: ‘Thank you really for the attention you pay to my plastic, could you teach me something instead?’ It was a kind of constant negotiation, a gymnastics, to not take too much of a hand and at the same time, not to come across as stuck on duty, because that was the best way to ostracize yourself. It was part of the hospital environment, it was make or break, you had to deal with it.”
This doctor also talks about those nights on call where the room door doesn’t close, the great teachers who think they can do anything. “There was one in particular, it was an octopus, it was all slimy, says Hélène. As soon as we passed within a certain area, we were absolutely certain to grab a hand, a caress, and seemingly nothing. This one, you especially had to avoid finding yourself in his office. And it’s only my 52-year-old self who says in retrospect that my butt was still pretty damn hot.”
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