Campus Corner
of Pharmacy (UKCOP) faculty, challenged the pharmacy community to do better when holding its peers accountable. Coming forward about sexual harassment experiences isn't a cut-and-dry process. When people decide to come forward, they run the risk of suffering social and professional consequences. This fear of retaliation is reinforced by workplace power differentials that work to maintain the status quo. "You have to consider a lot of things before outing someone for sexual harassment,” Bissell said. “You run the risk of the person using this against you at a local level, but also if the person has a large national presence, they can keep you out of organizations or involvement that can hurt you professionally.” However, once Bissell realized that the situation impacted others and not only herself, she decided it was time to confront the problem head-on.
How Women Pharmacists Sparked a National Conversation around Sexual Harassment By: Jacob Lewis and Kristie Colón In 2017 the #MeToo Movement took the world of Hollywood by storm as dozens of women came forward with their experiences with sexual harassment. These stories created a domino effect in other industries as more women began to come forward, and the world began to see what women already knew: sexual harassment was a universal problem. As other industries worked on dealing with these "revelations," the field of pharmacy remained quiet.
"It wasn't until I heard that some of these interactions that I had previously gone through had occurred to a student,” Bissell said. “The student was hesitant to come forward because they'd heard that I had gone through this harassment and continued a professional relationship with the harasser. That was a turning point for me. It was then that I realized that if myself and others do not take action, then the situation would only continue." Bissell and Smith's efforts opened the floodgates for women to have their voices heard. As the voices of those impacted by sexual harassment reached a fever pitch, people began to come out in support of Bissell and her colleagues. One of those voices was Dr. Jimmi Hatton Kolpek, president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). “The courage, determination, and commitment demonstrated by Dr. Bissell and her colleagues are transforming professional organization’s policies, procedures, and processes,” Hatton Kolpek said.”Embracing diversity, addressing harassment, and uniting to end discrimination will strengthen the future of our profession. I couldn’t be more grateful for her leadership and the opportunity to support these voices throughout my service as President of ACCP.”
Dr. Jackie Johnston from the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and Stephanie Sibickly from It stayed this way until August 2020 when Dr. ReNortheastern University School of Pharmacy were becca Smith, of the University of Arkansas for Medi- among the women who told their stories and made cal Sciences, came forward via Twitter to call out the push for accountability. These stories prompted the pharmacy community for continuing to supa much broader conversation about how our culport pharmacists who have a past with sexual har- ture has and continues to enable predatory behavassment. These claims were significantly bolstered ior by men. when Dr. Brittany Bissell, critical care pharmacist at UK Health Care and University of Kentucky College When men exhibit inappropriate behavior towards |44| Kentucky Pharmacists Association | March/April 2021
