Sexual Abuse: Story From a Surgeon From Africa

23 November 2022

I was a junior general practitioner and having completed assisting a surgery, I went to the changing room. Another male general practitioner came in at the same time and started to undress in front of me. It was a tiny room, with no curtains or divisions between us, so I tried to leave the room and intended to come back later when he had finished undressing. He blocked my way and asked “Why are you leaving?” and put his hand over my waist and pulled me towards him. I got furious and shouted at him, “Are you serious?” He said,” What’s the problem? “I can see you like me!” Then, he moved forward to kiss me. I turned my head and he kissed my neck. I tried to slap him, but missed. I didn’t want to deal with him and left the room very angry and confused about what had happened. I didn’t know who to tell, who to report it to, or even how to comprehend what had happened. I just chose to forget about it altogether. I never came across that particular colleague again in the operating room, but the feeling has never left me. To this day, I feel very cautious whenever I am in a changing room. I just hate working like this. Now, looking back, it seems ridiculous that men and women continue to share changing rooms at surgical operating theaters.