#ThatsHarassment – The Doctor

Here is another video from #ThatsHarassment. It comes a few days after Dr. Larry Nassar, a renowned athletic medicine physician who worked with Michigan State University and the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years of prison for seven counts of criminal sexual conduct after more than 210 former patients came forward with allegations of abuse. BLOG POST CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO

After watching this video, you can see just how subtle, but calculated perpetrators of abuse and harassment can be, especially when they are in the position of a doctor. We are supposed to trust doctors; they went to medical school, after all, and are involved in our most intimate details. Like most professionals, the overwhelming majority of doctors are honest and are here to help us. But when they are not, in the case of Larry Nassar, or this guy in the video, it can leave us feeling very vulnerable and confused. Here is a very in-depth article from MLive about how Nassar used his position as a well-respected athletic medicine doctor to abuse his young patients and cover it up for 20 years. 

Some people may have wondered “Did they have to do that procedure?” or “I’m not sure if that was right, the way or place they touched me?” You can sense the woman in this videos’ body language that says she’s questioning this whole situation. She feels vulnerable and violated, but will not likely report the situation, because abusers use their position to make the victim question themselves. Gaslighting 101. After all, sexual abuse and harassment are about power, and the abuser can have power over you if you are left questioning your own judgment.

What are the answers to all of this? We don’t really know at this time. But it does point out to why primary prevention (creating conditions that stop sexual violence before it even starts) is very important.