Make formal complaints of sexual harassment, junior medical personnel urged

Junior medical professionals experiencing sexual harassment from their seniors are being urged to make formal complaints.

This advice comes in response to claims that there has been no official report.

A Jamaica Observer report last weekend chronicled the experience of junior doctors who said they were afraid to speak out because of concerns they could be victimized.

Dr. Elon Thompson, President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors' Association, responding to the report Tuesday on RJR's Beyond the Headlines, said he would have preferred if the victims had made formal reports rather than going public.

Dr. Clive Lai, President of the Medical Association of Jamaica, also urged that formal reports be made.

He stressed however that victims must be prepared to show evidence of harassment, particularly where such evidence is stored on a phone or other electronic devices.

“The evidence is on the telephone; the name of the senior doctor should be on the phone, the conversation they have had, the graphic photos; all of these things are evidence…” he said.

Policy

Carmen Johnson, President of the Nurses' Association of Jamaica, also addressed the issue, urging that a policy on sexual harassment be developed for the health sector.

She said this policy should also outline procedures for reporting cases of harassment, “where persons can have that confidence within the system and confidence within the persons who operate the system…”