Kounteya Sinha
Sexual harassment in hospitals, of women doctors and nurses, seems to have become a common practice in India. In a shocking study carried out by international NGO Population Council, 77 of the 135 women doctors and nurses, working in four hospitals in Kolkata, admitted sexual harassment.
However, over 50 of them did not complain. The reason: many feared they will be blamed for provoking sexual harassment. Others worried about loss of reputation after complaining. As many as 45 reported psychological harassment, 41 verbal harassment, 27 unwanted touch and 16 sexual gestures and exhibitionism.
The study also revealed that just 20 of the 135 women interviewed over a period of 11 months by Population Council researcher Paramita Chaudhuri were aware of the Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment. What's worse, none of them had heard of a complaints committee for redressal of their grievances.
Several of the respondents also expressed their scepticism about the grievances committee's effectiveness. The study "Sexual harassment in work place experiences of women in the health sector", says victims were sexually harassed by not only their co-workers but also by patients and their relatives.
Doctors and nurses alike agree that sexual harassment is an occupational hazard for working women.
A 30-year-old government doctor said "We have accepted this and this is how things will continue." A 35-year-old nurse added, "Saying bad things when they see a woman is natural.
It doesn't matter if the man is a doctor or a non-medical staffer." The study also found that in a large number of cases the victims were reluctant to go public on this issue. Of the 135 women interviewed, 45 were doctors. Nearly 24 of them had been harassed. Of the 50 nurses, 31 were victims of sexual harassment.
The study said, "By and large, doctors and nurses in government hospitals are permanent employees and those in private hospitals tend to work as consultants. Nurses in private hospitals, although confirmed after 3 months of employment, can be dismissed at any time and therefore have less job security than those in government hospitals.
Health care attendants are employed by patients on a temporary basis and have the least job security. Reluctant to discuss sexual harassment stems from the fear of those on daily wage employment or on contracts that they will lose their job if they go public."
Shockingly, the biggest perpetrators of abuse were patients and their families followed by doctors and non-medical staff. Nurses are the only group harassed by everyone doctors, non-medical staff, patients and their relatives and outsiders the study said.
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