Press Release: Sexual harassment testimonies expose bleak reality for majority women health workforce 

Power imbalance major driver of human rights violations in health

November 29, 2022  – The alarming level of violence and sexual harassment faced by healthworkers is a serious human rights violation for women who make up 70 percent of the global health workforce and 90 percent of frontline staff. 

An upcoming report by Women in Global Health Her Story: Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment of Women Health Workers set to be published on December 13, exposes the sexual harassment and abuse at work experienced by significant numbers of women health workers.

The report lists several excerpts of anonymous stories submitted by 230 women in 37 countries across the world. 

In one example, in Senegal, a woman doctor describes an experience in which she was locked into a hospital room by a much older supervisor who became sexually aroused and pushed against her. The woman managed to kick her way free. When she told colleagues about the incident, she remembered, “They refused to believe me and advised me to shut up and move on.” 

In the US, a woman community health worker endured the advances of a male co-worker who made several attempts to have her removed, “He had repeated meetings with upper management and begged them to fire me. The day my job contract ended, I received a string of text messages from him asking me out on a date, telling me how pretty I was, and that he was excited my job ended because he wasn’t my boss anymore.”

In another example in Mexico, a student doctor was offered good grades by her supervisor in return for sexual favours. He said, “You know, I am offering you an easy way out. If you reject my offer, you risk failing the rotation.”

In Portugal, a student surgeon details her repeated sexual harassment at the hands of a hospital Vice Director. When she reported incidents to senior male colleagues, she was told, “He’s a great teacher. He just loses his mind a bit when it comes to girls. Ignore it.”

A major driver of the abuse, the report found, is the power imbalance favoring men in the hierarchical health profession. Men currently occupy 75 percent of all leadership roles in health, with women clustered into lower status, low-paying roles. This power dynamic, it says, has created an enabling environment for perpetrators. Women’s position in the health sector makes them more vulnerable to abuse from male colleagues, male patients and members of the community and in a weak position to report that abuse. 

“It’s a problem rooted in the abuse of power, more than by sexual attraction. If the male perpetrators knew they would be sanctioned and lose their jobs; that they would be publicly shamed, they would be unlikely to do it. They know they can get away with it,” said Dr Roopa Dhatt, Executive Director, Women in Global Health.

The report was compiled from stories submitted by women health workers as part of the #HealthToo project–a Women in Global Health online platform and research project. In the absence of comprehensive data, Women in Global Health harnessed the power of personal testimony to bring the reality and nature of the abuse to life, as well as the conditions that enable it. The stories, excerpts of which are included in the report, were supplemented by existing research on the topic.

“Personal stories are harder to ignore. They describe the compliance of colleagues, the lack of reporting, fear of reprisal and job loss, the lack of mechanisms for receiving complaints, the absence of laws to prosecute. The testimonies present a clear view of an enabling environment for perpetrators,” said Dr Dhatt. 

From global, to institutional to personal level, the report calls for establishing the legal foundations for gender equality in the workforce and for a culture change so that perpetrators of abuse are reported and sanctioned. 

“We need organizational cultures that encourage upstanders not bystanders. Leadership from the top. The need for employment legislation and employment rights to protect women is key, particularly to enable reporting, with provisions for confidentiality. Such measures would also serve as a deterrent to other would-be perpetrators,” said Ann Keeling, Senior Fellow with Women in Global Health and lead author of the report. 

Other recommendations include: equal leadership representation of women in health; addressing social norms and stereotypes on gender equality, and providing safe and decent work environments. Also recommended is the need to work collectively for change through the introduction of investigatory systems that center on and protect survivors, including ensuring that perpetrators face justice promptly.

ENDS 

For press enquiries, contact: 

Joan Bolger – Women in Global Health 

e: joan.bolger@womeningh.org t: +353 85-285-6977

EDITOR’S NOTES

1. ILO Convention No. 190 (C190) is the first international treaty to recognize the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment. It was adopted in June 2019, by the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and came into force on June 25, 2021 
2. So far, just 22 countries worldwide have ratified the convention. In many countries, sexual harassment at work is still not a legal offence and women dont have the protection of law
3. Women in Global Health is calling on all countries to ratify convention ILO190  to bring their domestic law into line with the convention 

About Women in Global Health 

Women in Global Health (WGH) is the fast-growing women-led movement demanding gender equity in global health. While women represent 70% of the workforce and about 90 percent of front-line health workers, they hold just a quarter of leadership positions. Now with supporters in more than 90 countries and 41 official chapters predominantly in low-income countries, Women in Global Health campaigns for equal representation for women in health leadership; equitable pay and ending unpaid work for women health workers; protection and safe and decent work; and the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. These are the essential foundations for strong health systems, Universal Health Coverage and global health security.

Women in Global Health now has 41 Chapters in 36 countries, and expects to have 100 by 2023.  With around 5,500 members and 70,000 supporters, we are nurses, midwives, doctors, public health professionals, health policy makers, community health workers, researchers, pharmacists and private sector health workers.

The organization campaigns to address gender inequity as a systemic health care problem with grave impacts on health care delivery around the world. Its canon of evidence, such as today’s report, works to prove that investment in the provision of safe workplaces for women will pay off longer term in better health outcomes.