Some female health workers in the country have described how their patients harass them for sex.
Nneka told PUNCH HealthWise that she has had her fair share of sexual harassment and does not like discussing it. “I didn’t find it funny. He would corner me at every opportunity despite my unequivocal refusal. This was followed by incessant and inappropriate brushing of chest and bum. I left the job in frustration.
“A man once asked me to take up the responsibility of a home caregiver to care for his aged mother. After the home service, he insisted on driving me home. That was how the inappropriate touching began. I protested but he attempted to intimidate me because of his position in my workplace. The BMC Nursing noted that continual harassment consequently affects the mental, physical, emotional, social and psychological health of female nurses.
“Most of the time, it is usually between the senior doctors and newly recruited nurses. In fact, many start making advances at the girls during the recruitment exercise with promises to facilitate the appointment.The matron, who works in one of Lagos General Hospitals, said it was hard getting away with sexual harassment because once a petition is written against an official, he will be invited before a panel to defend himself. “This usually puts people on their toes,” she said.
“I was posted to University College Hospital, Ibadan, where I had the opportunity of working in a male-dominated medical team. At first, it was normal getting teased about my look and mode of dressing by the male folks. The epidemiologist said she had heard quite a few of such reports, confessing that she finds it difficult to tell the magnitude of the problem, since most cases were based on hearsay.“Complaints about health workers getting passes from patients and colleagues are not new. It is quite a sensitive topic that some people who pass through it will usually be ashamed to discuss.
“It is common to get men making unwanted passes at young female pharmacists at the point of duty. This, of course, is common in healthcare — female doctors and nurses, generally, any female giving care, are exposed to this. It behoves on men to behave themselves and treat all women with respect.
Dress well, stop exposing sensitive sections of your body, what do you think make men get more than one wife? What they see, hum!