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Culture June 18, 2018
A change is desperately needed.
Fifty-two women have now come forward accusing former USC gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall of sexual misconduct.
The scary part about the allegations are that these are not the first.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the accusations began in the 1990s, when Tyndall improperly photographed students’ genitals, inappropriately touched women during pelvic exams and make suggestive remarks about his patients’ bodies.
Tyndall was allowed to continue practicing gynecology despite these early allegations.
“Several of the complaints were concerning enough that it is not clear today why the former health center director permitted Tyndall to remain in his position,” the university responded.
However, with these new allegations, George Tyndall is now under investigation.
The investigation is spread out between 1990 and 2016, and only 12 lawsuits have been filed to date, despite 52 women coming forward, Huffington Post reported.
“Many of them are just inappropriate comments which, obviously, do not constitute a crime,” Los Angeles Police Department Police Captain, William Hayes, stated.
It may not be a crime, but it is definitely not okay.
Although he is currently under investigation, Tyndall has renewed his California medical license, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“When I am on my deathbed I want to think there are thousands and thousands of Trojan women out there whose health I made a difference in,” Tyndall stated.
Seriously, what!?!
Tyndall now joins a list of other men who women should have been able to trust: Bill Cosby, Larry Nassar, Harvey Weinstein… Unfortunately, this list continues to grow.
However, there is one common factor in all of these cases. The accusations were taken seriously after multiple women spoke up.
The Weinstein case had 85 women come forward accusing him of sexual misconduct. Cosby’s case had 57 women come forward and Nassar had more than 100 come forward.
Why does there have to be a dramatic number of victims before someone acknowledges something is wrong? That is the real question.
Allegations of this nature need to be taken seriously sooner. The authorities must take action before multiple women have to become victims.
It is instances like these that make women afraid to come forward when they are victims of sexual misconduct. Women fear they’ll be blamed for causing the incident or told they’re overreacting, and many keep quiet as a result.
It is time for society to take a look in the mirror and assess the way we handle these situations. We should not be making a woman feel at fault for an assault she experienced. It is never the victim’s fault. We should be able to take a woman’s story seriously without thinking she out to gain something.
Even if a woman is too fearful to come forward, if there is someone else who notices something doesn’t seem right, they should speak up, too. It is our duty as a society to look out for each other. This is no exception.
No woman should feel like she has to tolerate sexual harassment just because she’s a woman. This goes for men as well. No person should be denied the right to speak up when they’ve been the victim of sexual misconduct.
