Sexual harassment against nurses in Turkey

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the prevalence and sources of sexual harassment against nurses in Turkey, its consequences, and factors affecting harassment experiences.

Design: Descriptive survey. Participants (N=622) were selected from nurses working in eight Ministry of Health hospitals in Turkey.

Methods: Participants were surveyed with a Sexual Harassment Questionnaire, consisting of the sociodemographic characteristics of participants, types of sexual harassment, sources, feelings, ramifications, and ways to cope with sexual harassment behaviors. Frequency and percentage distributions, chi-square, and logistic regression were used for data analysis.

Findings: The results showed 37.1% of participants had been harassed sexually. Physicians were identified as the primary instigators of sexual harassment. The most common reactions against harassers were anger and fear; frequently reported negative effects of sexual harassment were disturbed mental health function, decline in job performance, and headache. "Did nothing" was the coping method used most commonly by the nurses. About 80% of sexually harassed nurses did not report the incident of sexual harassment to hospital administration.

Conclusions: The lower working status and power of nurses in the workplace, poor working conditions in healthcare settings, and insufficient administrative mechanisms, including the present law and regulations against sexual harassers, were identified as important factors in the work environment in Turkey.