Sexual Harassment: Story of a Medical Student From the Americas Region

23 November 2022

While I was a medical student doing a rotation at a public hospital in Mexico City, I had a family problem that led me to be absent for four days. When I got back to the hospital, the attending physician asked me to join him for a private conversation at his office. He asked me to close the door and when we were alone, he said, “Doctor, I have a reputation for giving the best results to my female students, especially if they are as pretty as you. However, you missed the first few days of the rotation. What favor can you offer me to make amends? He told me this while he touched my arm suggestively, keeping eye contact. I replied, “If I don’t deserve a good grade, you don’t have to give it to me.” He responded, “You know, I am offering you an easy way out.” I smiled, got up, and left the office as quickly as possible.

During the month that the rotation lasted, the doctor kept making suggestive comments to me, touching my hair and reminding me that he could fail me. All of my female colleagues commented on similar incidents. Thank God it didn’t go any further. I passed the final exam and I never had to see him again. Since nothing physical had really happened, I didn’t feel I had anything to report at that time. In the end, like many women, I endured the situation, hoping that it would be temporary. I always understood that speaking out would have had more severe consequences for me, than for him.