___________________________________________ Sexual Harassment Prevention: The Illinois Requirement
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME and Self-Assessment requirements of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABS credit. This activity has been approved for the American Board of Anesthesiology’s ® (ABA) requirements for Part II: Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment of the American Board of Anesthesiology’s (ABA) redesigned Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology Program ® (MOCA ® ), known as MOCA 2.0 ® . Please consult the ABA website, www.theABA.org, for a list of all MOCA 2.0 requirements. Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology Program ® and MOCA ® are registered certification marks of the American Board of Anesthesiology ® . MOCA 2.0 ® is a trademark of the American Board of Anesthesiology ® . Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the activity with individual assessments of the participant and feedback to the participant, enables the participant to earn 1 MOC point in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABP MOC credit. This activity has been designated for 1 Lifelong Learning (Part II) credit for the American Board of Pathology Continuing Certification Program. Through an agreement between the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, medical practitioners participating in the Royal College MOC Program may record completion of accredited activities registered under the ACCME’s “CME in Support of MOC” program in Section 3 of the Royal College’s MOC Program. About the Sponsor The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare. Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice. Disclosure Statement It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distrib- uting or providing access to this activity to learners.
INTRODUCTION Sexual harassment in the workplace has existed for centuries, primarily affecting domestic workers, servants, and women in the workforce. It was often assumed that women wanted or deserved the sexual attention and advances that they reported, unless they had substantial evidence that they had rejected or fought against their aggressor [1]. Only in recent decades has the law protected workers from the harassment and assault that many experienced. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, unwanted sexual advances in the workplace were made illegal, but it was not until the 1970s that the term “sexual harassment” began to gain recognition, due in large part to the women’s rights movement [1; 2]. While sexual harassment is a term that has been familiar to the general population for the past 40 years, it has returned to the spotlight since the beginning of the “Me Too” movement, which started in 2006 before gaining renewed support and widespread following in 2017 with the viral hashtag #metoo. The now-global movement continues to provide support and resources for survivors, as well as building communities of advocates and working to disrupt the systems that allow sexual harassment and violence to occur [3]. In 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported 35,774 charge receipts alleging harass- ment in the workplace, a 68% increase from 2021 reports of 21,270 charge receipts [4]. In addition, the number of sexual harassment charge receipts increased proportionately from 5,581 in 2021 to 8,747 in 2024, remaining at approximately 25% of all harassment charges [12]. According to the EEOC, approximately 75% of employees who experience harassment in the workplace never talk to a supervisor or take formal action against their harasser [5; 13]. Overall, it is estimated that between 25% and 85% of women experience sexual harass- ment at work [5; 13]. While women are more likely to experi- ence sexual harassment, men are also affected; approximately 15% of all sexual harassment charges made to the EEOC in 2024 were filed by men [12]. The field of health care has several risk factors that make it par- ticularly prone to incidents of sexual harassment. For example, sexual harassment occurs more often in workplaces with hierarchal structures and significant power disparities, both of which are apparent in healthcare workplaces. Also, harassment is more common in workplaces that are male-dominated. One study found that women are six times more likely to experience sexual harassment than men in male-dominated workplaces. In female-dominated workplaces, men are twice as likely to experience sexual harassment than women [5]. In another survey, 30% to 70% of female physicians and 50% of female medical students reported having experienced sexual or gender harassment at work [6]. Another survey showed that nearly 75% of female non-surgical interns experienced sexual harassment when considering the definition, but only 25% identified their experience as such [7]. Sexual harassment has also been
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