Nature and Prevalence of Sexual Harassment Against Female Medical Interns a Study at two Teaching Hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2020GC
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Date
2021-06
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background
Violence against women is a deep-rooted problem in the world. For example, a report from the
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) found that female
medical students were 220% more likely than non-science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) disciplines to face sexual harassment from faculty or staff.
Objective
To determine the prevalence and nature of sexual harassment against female medical interns at
Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and Saint Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College in
2020 GC
Methodology
Mixed concurrent nested qualitative and quantitative study conducted at Tikur Anbessa
Specialized Teaching Hospital and St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia from 1 June 2020 GC to 30 June, 2021Gc using the female medical interns as
target population and Semi-structured questionnaire for data collection after obtaining ethical
clearance and data analysis was done by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version
23.0 program.
Result
A total of 76 female medical interns were included in the study. The prevalence of sexual
harassment was 96.05%. The most common nature of sexual harassment was a suggestive
comment (61 out of 76 respondents), "inappropriate remarks" (59/76 respondents) and "request
for dates" (59 out of 76 respondents), and "unwanted physical contact," accounting for 76.31%
or 58 out of the 76 respondents. One female medical intern reported attempted rape from TASH,
and the perpetrator was "other school staff."
Conclusion
There is a high prevalence rate of sexual harassment against female medical interns at TASH and
SPHMMC, and experiences of harassment range from subtle comments and suggestive gestures
to overt behaviors and attempted rape
Perpetrators are primarily institutional insiders (lecturers, supervisors, instructors), classmates,
and other school staff; other students, patients, and patient attendants are also perpetrators
Sexual harassment awareness-creation trainings at the beginning of the academic year for
medical students and school staff. And briefing on how, to whom and where to report incidents is
recommended
A large scale research in Ethiopian medical schools for better understanding of the problem is
recommended
Description
Keywords
Violence , women, sexual harassment