Women bullied and harassed at ‘toxic’ British Medical Association, scathing report into sexism says

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Women face sexual harassment and bullying at the British Medical Association, a scathing report has found.

The independent review of sexism at the professional organisation for doctors found an “old boy’s club culture” exists and women are yelled at and have their concerns sneered at or overlooked.

Women were said to be treated “of less importance and ability” – with some men continuing to address women in “demeaning terms, such as ‘girls’, ‘silly girls’, ‘naughty girls’, ‘little ladies’, ‘lady members’, ‘madam chair’ and ‘wee lassies’.”

Daphne Romney QC was ordered to conduct the investigation by the BMA after female doctors spoke out against sexual harassment and sexism at Britain’s largest medical trade union.

In interviews, female doctors and members of staff told Ms Romney they feel “undervalued, ignored, and patronised because they are women”.

The report said: “This is because of an ‘old boy’s club’ culture for some that lingers on without proper challenge, which treats women as of less importance and ability.”

She said some women were not deemed to be “real doctors” due to working part-time.

The review also found conversations revolve around asking them about their children, and how their husbands are managing without them being there, instead of “asking them about their achievements, their career aspirations and their views on policy”.

The report adds: “Female staff with university degrees are told to make the tea, or asked whether they want to come and work as a doctor’s secretary or PA, some have been told, ‘you have a lot to prove because you’re a woman’.”

Ms Romney also discovered women at the “toxic” organisation are sexually harassed and excluded from committees they are part of.

An “excessive consumption of alcohol” at conferences was said to trigger incidents of sexual harassment.

The report said: “This includes being touched inappropriately, lewd and inappropriate sexual remarks directed to, or made about women, invitations or even instructions to accompany a male doctor to his hotel room, staring at a woman’s breasts, inappropriate comments about a woman’s appearance, and being kissed or hugged.”

It added: “Women are consistently made to feel that they are of less importance, and are less capable than a man; for example, what they say does not carry the same weight.”

Some women also reported meetings taking place in their absence without their knowledge.

In one meeting, a female member of staff was given responsibility for a piece of work “but at the meeting discussing it, the male doctors present all addressed themselves to her male colleague”.

The report said women are outnumbered on committees – for example, on the GPs committee, men outnumber women by two to one, even though 54 per cent of GPs are women.

Ms Romney recommended that quotas or minimum numbers are implemented for women on committees but she said she thought the change would be “very unpopular”.

The report also said there “has been a failure of leadership for too long throughout the BMA in calling out bad behaviour, including sex discrimination, sexual harassment, rudeness and bullying of all kinds”.

Ms Romney’s review was announced in April after two senior female GPs accused colleagues of sexism in an article for GP Online.

Katie Bramall-Stainer and Zoe Norris reported instances of belittling, having their thighs and buttocks fondled, being propositioned and having senior male colleagues trying to guess bra sizes.

Ms Norris told GP Online on Thursday she and colleagues felt “vindicated and enormously relieved” by Ms Romney’s report.

“The last few months have been extremely difficult – we have been subjected to abuse and accusations about our motivations in speaking out,” she said. “We have been treated shockingly.”

But she said she believed there is “now an opportunity for real change to happen within the BMA”.

BMA chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, pledged to implement the recommendations, adding: “I am truly appalled to learn that members and staff have been subjected to sexism and sexual harassment and the behaviours described in this report. These behaviours have no place within the BMA.

“I am deeply sorry to those who have been affected and I thank all those individuals who came forward to contribute to the review – I recognise their strength and courage in speaking out.”

Dr Helena McKeown, a chief officer at the BMA and representative body chair, said: “I am of an age where sexism has pervaded so many parts of my personal and working life for too long. It’s not just within the BMA, but that doesn’t mean we accept it; we don’t, and we won’t.”

BMA chief executive, Tom Grinyer, said he would introduce an external guardian of safe working and internal staff listening champions for all involved in the BMA.

“I arrived in July determined to tackle these cultural issues and this report gives us clear recommendations to do that,” he added.

In line with Ms Romney’s recommendations, the BMA has launched an independent and external 24-hour support line, and an independent complaints investigation process carried out by an external firm.

Dr Bramall-Stainer and Dr Norris both previously said “very senior” male members of the BMA’s GP committee had called them “naughty girls”.

Additional reporting by Press Association