run the gauntlet
to have to go through a place where people are trying to harm or humiliate you, for example by attacking you or shouting insults at you
Borders are sealed and aid workers must run the gauntlet of checkpoints controlled by warlords.
to suffer bad treatment from people because of something you are trying to achieve
Teachers run the gauntlet of low-level disruption on a daily basis.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers