STR / AFP
Karine Lacombe, who accuses Patrick Pelloux of “being a sexual predator,” calls for a #MeToo at the hospital (Photo by Patrick Pelloux on June 7, 2022)
#METOO – Has the time for hospital #MeToo come? In an investigation of Paris Match published Wednesday April 10, infectious disease specialist Karine Lacombe accused emergency physician Patrick Pelloux of “ sexual and moral harassment “. She spoke of inappropriate behavior and comments on the part of the highly publicized doctor, to female members of the hospital staff.
“There was a need for public speaking to free up private speaking”she explained this Thursday to Parisianwishing to want “help move the system”. She confides in this sense “ hope » the start of a hospitable #MeToo.
“The problem is systematic in hospitals, and there needs to be global awareness,” she calls, insisting: “The young women who testify need to know that they are not alone. »
Harassed and humiliated in hospital
Karine Lacombe is the head of the infectious diseases hospital department at Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris. It was within these walls that she met Patrick Pelloux, and that she says she was harassed and humiliated. She says she remembers in particular when the emergency doctor arrived in the department saying: “ So, the pullets don’t chirp much in this henhouse! ».
She also says that one day, he grabbed an intern by the neck who was facing away to rub his lower abdomen against her. All while saying: “Mmmh, don’t look like that, it’s too tempting, it’s fucking hot!” »
A behavior which is not a secret in the sector, since the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn testified to Paris Match : “I was told that Pelloux was far from having had exemplary behavior with the fairer sex, which is why he was exfiltrated from Saint-Antoine. »
“What we were doing is undoable today. But we had a good laugh”
In October 2023, Karine Lacombe had already mentioned this problem, without naming the doctor. “A few months ago, I met an emergency doctor again who we know is a sexual predator. He told me: anyway, with #MeToo, we can no longer do anything”she then testified to West France.
She also talked about it in her book, Women will save the hospital: a life as a caregiver, always without naming him. She justifies this choice by the desire not to “not stigmatize a person”. “I wanted to show that it is a systemic problem, with people, especially women, who are silent and who suffer”she explained to the magazine She.
In Paris MatchPatrick Pelloux reacted to these accusations, refuting any aggression, but nevertheless recognizing behavior “ saucy “. “What we said and what we did is undoable today, that’s for sure. But we had a good laugh”he said, before specifying that it will be “ forced to file a lawsuit » to Karine Lacombe.
“ But who was having fun? Certainly not young women! This kind of thing is anchored in the medical community but that should not excuse », replied the latter, stunned by the emergency doctor’s argument.
Also see on The HuffPost: