Management of Sexual Harassment in the Health Care Setting - Research Paper Example

MANAGEMENT OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE HEALTH CARE SETTING Table of Contents Introduction 3 Research Aim 3 Research Objectives 3 Sexual Harassment: Definition and Legal Clauses 4 Guiding Principles 6 Gender Issues in Nursing Practice in relation to Sexual harassments 9 Research Methodology 10 Research Findings 10 Quantitative Questions 10 Qualitative Questions 14 Findings and Conclusion 16 Recommendations 16 References 18 Annexure: 21 Introduction The cases of sexual harassment at work are not a new subject of study as the cases are in news for quite some time. The research will focus on the various data to find the awareness about cases of sexual harassment in the health care settings. The legislation has formed stringent regulations under the guidelines of Title VII of the Civil Rights Law, 1964 to curb all cases of sexual harassment at work (Gilani, 2012). The awareness of the various responsibilities and role of the Health Care manager in such a case would be evaluated in the paper. The role of the managers and supervisors and their relationships in a case of sexual harassment at Health care setting would be critically analyzed in this research. Research Aim The aim of the research is to find awareness about sexual harassment at work for the Health Care Setting employees. The view about the same would be taken from the supervisors and managers to determine the level of awareness in context to the cases and legislations at place. Research Objectives The research would investigate the role Health Care employees in case of a complaint about sexual harassment at work. The objective is to identify the role of the manager along with the guidelines to be followed in case of a complaint received. The literature review in the research would focus on the development of theory of Human Rights and the legal framework available to curb such extortions. Again, the legislation and guidelines along with the knowledge of the code of conduct for a health care manager and supervisors would be studied. The research would be conducted upon a group of 50 Health Care Employees of which 10 would be Health Care Supervisors for primary data generation. Secondary data would be collected from 5 different Health Care Managers to find out the awareness of role and responsibility for each level of health care workers in case of a violation. Sexual Harassment: Definition and Legal Clauses Sexual harassment at work place was first introduced in 1980s by Japan and the United States (Un.org, 2015). However, they had to detract due to the heavy media pressure. In health care industry, the nursing and health care staffs are prone to sexual harassment at work. Sexual harassment cause emotional distress, disgust, burnout syndromes and high turnover among the health care professionals (Corby, 2012). Thus the net outcome is inferior patient care or legal action, financial burden and a bad repute for the organization. Fineran (2012) observed that there are various reasons for such sexual harassments, especially in the lower ranks of the health care profession. Health care employees, especially females are prone to sexual harassments due to their inferior position in the hierarchy in medical profession. The cases of sexual harassments are becoming more frequent due to health care structure where the patients are Medical Insurance consumers. In the same length, the cause that was given for such a case happening in Japan was attributed to the female population in nursing who provides maternal care and the users in the case often regards the profession as emotional care. However, to counter the problems of such cases of harassments the global authorities like World health Organization (WHO), domestic government authorities have formed laws to see that such incidents are punished and detrimental examples are set forth (ABCNews, 2012). Various laws and the inherent clauses are studied with a broader scope herein. United Nations The United Nation’s council treats the sexual harassment as a human rights issue and has produced guideline and statements of law to govern the issue. The UN General Assembly Resolution (48/101) passed a Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against women which includes sexual harassment at work place. Penal, Civil and other administrative sanctions for preventive mechanisms are subscribed under it (Bhasin, 2012) The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) directs employers and employees to seek justice if a case of sexual harassment occurs in any form against women in social and public life. Further, the Beijing Platform for action recognizes sexual harassment against women as acts of discrimination and violence, directing authorities like employers, unions, civil society to ensure action and law enforcement. The guide has also formed a great platform for employers to formulate the anti harassment and policies for prevention of the evil (Humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au., 2015). International Labour Organization (ILO) The ILO committee on application of Conversions and recommendations for sexual harassments and discrimination in 1958 developed its own formulation to guide and recommend the sexual harassment at work and the remedies available to the aggrieved (Un.org, 2015). African Union and Sub-regional bodies The protocol of the African Charter on Human and People on the Rights of Women in Africa directs the State to take strict legal actions in case of such crimes. The charter declares the discrimination and harm against woman as a crime along with punishment for such crime. Transparency in recruitments, promotion, dismissal of women from job are all based on few guidelines that ensures no such discrimination or harassments happen with women at workplace. Europe The Charter of Fundamental Rights of European Union formed with European Union’s charter of association ensures that the right to freedom from discrimination on basis of sex to ensure equality in all spheres exists. Equal treatments at work, to goods and services, opportunities etc are guided by the charter. Equal opportunities for employment, payment of wages, training, equal opportunity etc are ensured with details of actions to be taken against sexual offenders are elaborated in it (Hg.org, 2015). Nevertheless, in 2006, UN’ Secretary General said in his observation of sexual harassments as “one of the most Serious Challenges of our time1” (Forbes, 2014). Therefore crime against women has found civil, criminal and administrative code of conduct which can be applied in case there is a breach of conduct. The UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against women serves the guidelines for protection of woman rights at workplace (Ambrosio, 2015). Guiding Principles The goal of the UN’s Legislation is to see that the legislation for violence against women or girls is executed in a proper manner. The legislations are drafted keeping in mind the standards of intolerable behaviour, misconduct, abuse on women anywhere and provide justice to the aggrieved. The international legislations to curb the violence against women are based on guiding principles of the UN General Assembly handbook (Raymond, 2012). The other instruments to ensure health and safety for women at work can be found in the following: International declaration of Human rights (1948) states the right to “liberty, life and security2” and the Article 8 of the same suggests “right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts of violation of fundamental rights, granted by the constitution3” so that the rights and freedom of the aggrieved is restored (Nesri.org, 2015). Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) or ICCPR defines discrimination on basis of Sex, class, creed or any such Human Rights violation with effective remedial measures (Chappell & Di-Martino, 2013). Article 26 therein “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”4 (Keogh, 2013). Again the state’s responsibility is asserted in Article 28 that suggests the Equality of rights for men and women (Ahmad, 2013). The recommendation therein states “State parties should provide information to enable the Committee to ascertain whether access to justice and the right to a fair trial, provided for in article 14, are enjoyed by women on equal terms to men. (Paragraph 18). Again, “States parties must provide information to enable the Committee to assess the effect of any laws or practices that may interfere with women’s right to enjoy privacy and other rights protected by article 17 on the basis of equality with men. (Paragraph 20)5”. The International Covenant in Economic, Social, Cultural rights (1976) (ICESCR) in its Article 3 suggests “equal rights to men and women for economic, social, cultural rights6”. The convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 1979 in article 1 defines the discrimination against women as: “Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field7”. Further there are proper guidelines for the child rights and protection of each against sexual harassments at work or at home. The UN’s Declaration of the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) 1993 states “violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which had led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women, and that violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared to men8”. Based upon the observation, the Security Council’s legislation of 2008-2009 assures all its member nations and its citizen necessary guidelines for woman safety and passed several resolutions with time to stop all kind of violence against women (Kovera & Cass, 2012). Gender Issues in Nursing Practice in relation to Sexual harassments The number of female workers in all fields of health care is growing which was previously more concentrated upon Nursing in Health care sector. A survey on Japanese healthcare in 2006 suggested that only 4% of the entire nursing population were male (20,000 of 800,000 employed)9 (Ag.ny.gov, 2015). Therefore, the idea that prevails in a larger portion of the society is that nursing or Health care profession is female oriented. Lu-Ming (2013) argues that the health care profession is considered as ‘emotional labour’ where the emotions are best used by the service industry. Kindness, empathy, promotion of good feelings, a smiling face is socially accepted as feminine qualities and used by service sector. Therefore the persona of the health care is identified as a feminine trait involving emotional labour and it is somewhat an accepted belief that females in Health care are there due to sex related emotional labour needs. The clinical roles of the female Health Care professionals have an image of understanding sympathetic attitude towards patients (Nursingworld.org, 2014). Therefore the stereotype of gender has its own peril like sexual harassments; in particular the bed side care makes the situation more vulnerable for female nursing staffs. However, Taylor (2013) argues that the sexual harassment reactions were found to be moderate as the aggrieved staff would remain silent in many a case. Although, many newspaper reports have shown that the sexual harassment cases are prevalent in the hospitals but the trends of complain are less likely to come due to reasons of fear. Gilani (2012) suggested that the aggressive role of nurses is needed to counter the problem of sexual harassments at work with proper knowledge of the laws that protects her rights against such evil. The female health care workers knowledge about their rights and responsibilities to fight such sexual harassment cases is investigated herein, with a sample size of 50 Health Care Employees of which 10 would be Health Care Supervisors is chosen for the same. Research Methodology The research would try and find out the level of awareness that the employees of health care professionals have about sexual harassment at work. The sample chosen for the research for primary data collection has 40 Health care workers (All females) and 10 Health Care Supervisors (Male and Female) to collect primary data for the research. The qualitative feedback would come from the 10 supervisory level staffs of Health Care while 40 staffs would give the quantitative results. A Set of 3 qualitative questions would be asked to the supervisors (Please see Annexure 1) while another 5 quantitative questions would be asked to the staffs for their feedback. The awareness and procedures to follow during a case of sexual harassment, legislations, protection clauses in them, level of education about the awareness and preventive steps for such occurrence would be determined. A scale of options from highest to lowest of choices in dynamics to suggest an answer is given to choose from among them. The assessment of the answers would give the researcher an idea of the awareness among staffs about sexual assault along with knowledge to support preventive measures. Research Findings The finding from the survey of Qualitative and Quantitative questions suggests the following: Quantitative Questions 1. Your perception of Sexual Harassment at workplace for Health care employees Options Total Sample Size Answer to options % of the sample Very High 40 4 10 High 40 8 20 Yes, it happens but not an alarming case 40 16 40 Rare 40 4 10 I am not aware of such events 40 8 20 Representation of Findings Question 1 of Quantitative Answers The table and the subsequent representation suggest that the cases of sexual harassments are known more or less by all in the sample. However, 10% feels the cases are very high while 20% finds it to happen. It’s interesting to find that 40% of the people feel that cases of sexual harassments are not alarming in health care while 10% feels that the cases are rare while another 20% finds the cases to be unknown to them. Therefore the variance of knowledge is observed among the health care professions. 1. Are you aware of the procedures to follow in case there is such an occurrence Options Total Sample Size Answer to options % of the sample Yes, I am 40 4 10 Yes, but it’s unclear 40 14 35 No 40 16 40 Is there a process?! 40 6 15 Representation of the answers to Quantitative Question 2 The findings suggests that a huge chunk of people are either unaware of the process or are totally in dark about the processes to follow during the case of such crimes. Therefore the training and education or awareness is very poor for cases of sexual harassments in health care employees. 3. Are you adequate training about your rights and responsibilities in case there is such an occurrence Options Total Sample Size Answer to options % of the sample Yes, very much 40 4 10 Yes, but unaware of the legislative clauses 40 15 37.5 Neutral 40 17 42.5 Not at all 40 4 10 Representation for the answers of Question 3 The answer to the questions suggests that an astounding number of Health Care employees (37% and 42%) are unaware of the processes to follow in case there is a complaint. Therefore the awareness about the steps to be taken to curb the injustice is low, in case of complains. 4. Your awareness about who to approach in a case of sexual harassment, what steps needs to be followed to see you get justice Options Total Sample Size Answer to options % of the sample Yes, very much 40 5 12.5 Yes but unclear 40 15 37.5 Neutral 40 17 42.5 No, I am not aware 40 3 7.5 Representation of the answers to Question 4 The awareness about the processes to be undertaken is poor among the respondents in case of complain, as the bulk of respondents (37.5 and 42.5%) suggested. The awareness of legal processes in case of sexual harassment needs to be developed among social health workers. Qualitative Questions The respondents in this case were medical supervisors, 10 in number, who were asked about the awareness about sexual harassments. 1. What do you feel about the ‘Sexual Harassment at work’ for the female staffs in Health Care? The answer to the question suggests that most of the medical supervisors are unaware of the laws and legislations formed to protect the female workers rights at workplace. Supervisor, 1, 3,4,5,6 and 9 suggested that the sexual harassment at work is not that prominent at workplace for health care employees. They even stated that they haven’t faced a single case of sexual harassment at work in their career. However Supervisor 2, 7, 8 and 10 suggested that the awareness about the rules to associate a case in sexual harassment clause is very low among all in Health Care setup. Supervisor 2 suggested that she knows two such cases and the action taken therein, however the required guidelines is unclear to them. 1. Are you aware of the legislative norms to protect your staffs from sexual abuse at work place? Awareness of the legislation in case there is a breach seems very dim among the supervisors. The supervisor 2 who had previous exposure in such a case has some idea, but in a wholesome way nobody was aware. Supervisors were not aware of the Human rights guidelines that protect women folks at work against sexual harassments. The procedure to lodge a complaint, who to report to or what and how, was completely missing except the suggestion that they would report it to the supervisor. However, the follow up processes and legal remedy to it were unclear to them. 2. What precautionary measures do you propose to protect your staffs from Sexual Harassments? The proposition attracted a host of different suggestions from the supervisors. The first suggestion was to build a guideline and norm related handbook for all Health care employees to make them aware about the sexual harassment at work. The other major feedback was training needs for all in Health care sector employees about the processes to be followed in case there is a breach. Public display of such norms for all to see would act as a deterrent, suggested two of the supervisors. Making all public places in the health care set up under camera vigilance was proposed by one while another suggested putting the process diagram of such grievance handling processes in public spaces around the health care settings. Findings and Conclusion The survey process suggests that the awareness among the health care employees about the sexual harassment at work is very low. The nature of sexual harassments in Health Care comes from users, health care colleagues and family of the patients. The awareness among the people who are associated with health care profession needs to be enhanced. Training programmes with handbooks possessing guidelines to tackle such cases of sexual harassments needs to be incorporated. The procedures to counter such evil, needs special effort from both worker’s and supervisor’s side where the education and procedural guidelines along with follow up process needs further elaboration. Few recommendations that the researcher may put forth to counter such social evil are as below. Recommendations The recommendations are based upon the findings of the research to give the people working in health care settings to know their rights and responsibilities. The handbook for the health care workers is need of the hour to make them aware of the legislations and safeguards to prevent abuse at work. Training and development initiatives to make all aware of the fact and processes that needs to be followed during a case of complain for all level of health care employees is proposed. Display of the process to file a complaint and the guideline to see necessary action are taken to be displayed in public space of a hospital is proposed as this would act as a deterrent for all with a ready reckoned for female staffs to safeguard their interest at work place. References ABCNews. (2012). $168M Awarded in Sex Harass Suit. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/168-million-awarded-woman-harassed-raunchy-cardiac-surgery/story?id=15835342 Ag.ny.gov. (2015). New York Legislations. Retrieved from:http://www.ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/sexual_harrassment_brochure.pdf Ahmad, D. (2013) Welcoming in the New regime of Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Work Place with Skepticism. SSRN Journal. Ambrosio, U. D. (2015). Suit alleges sexual harassment at Vermont business. USA TODAY. Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/20/sexual-harassment-lawsuit-fireco/22063733/ Bhasin, A. (2012). Law relating to sexual harassment at work. Lucknow: Eastern Book Co. Chappell, D., & Di Martino, V. (2013). Violence at work. Geneva: International Labor Office. Corby, B. (2012). Creative Responses to Female Sexual Abuse: Challenges and Dilemmas, Creating a Safe Place: Helping Women and Families Recover from Sexual Abuse. Journal Of Social Work, 2(3), 358-360. Fineran, S. (2012). Sexual Harassment between Same-Sex Peers: Intersection of Mental Health, Homophobia, and Sexual Violence in Schools. Social Work, 47(1), 65-74. Forbes. (2014). U.S. Healthcare Ranked Dead Last Compared To 10 Other Countries. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/06/16/u-s-healthcare-ranked-dead-last-compared-to-10-other-countries/ Gilani, S. (2012) To What Extent Does the Law Protect a Person from Harassment at the Work Place, in the Context of the Protection from UK Harassment Act 1997. SSRN Journal. Hg.org. (2015). Employment Law - Guide to Labor Law - HG.org. Retrieved from http://www.hg.org/employ.html#1 Humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au. (2015). Sexual harassment in the workplace - Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Retrieved from http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/index.php/sexual-harassment Keogh, K. (2013). One in ten nurses fears a repeat of Mid Staffs where they work. Nursing Standard, 27(37), 5-5. Kovera, M., & Cass, S. (2012). Compelled mental health examinations, liability decisions, and damage awards in sexual harassment cases: Issues for jury research. Psychology, Public Policy, And Law, 8(1), 96-114. Lu-Ming, T. (2013). Customer First and Customer Sexual Harassment: Some Evidence from the Taiwan Life Insurance Industry. Gender, Work & Organization Nesri.org. (2015). Health Care in the United States National Economic & Social Rights Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.nesri.org/programs/health-care-in-the-united-states Nursingworld.org. (2014). Position Statement Background Information: Sexual Harassment. Retrieved from: http://nursingworld.org/harassmentps Raymond, J. (2012). Effects of sexual abuse last for decades, study finds. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43594639/ns/health-health_care/t/effects-sexual-abuse-last-decades-study-finds/ Taylor, J. (2013). Autonomy, Responsibility, and Women Obligation to Resist Sexual Harassment. International Journal Of Applied Philosophy, 21(1), 55-63. Un.org. (2015). OSAGI - OFPW Harassment Policy including sexual harassment. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/fpsexualharassment.htm Bibliography Mathen, C. (2014). Crowd sourcing Sexual Objectification. Laws, 3(3), 529-552. Moran, L. (2013). Sexual Diversity in the Judiciary in England and Wales; Research on Barriers to Judicial Careers. Laws, 2(4), 512-538. Wasti, S., & Cortina, L. (2012). Coping in context: Socio-cultural determinants of responses to sexual harassment. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 83(2), 394-405. Saaranen, T. (2012). School Staffs Experiences of Work and Working Conditions in Finnish and Estonian Schools. The Open Public Health Journal, 5(1), 55-69. Annexure: Research Questions Qualitative Questions (10 Health Care Supervisors) 1. What do you feel about the ‘Sexual Harassment at work’ for the female staffs in Health Care? 2. Are you aware of the legislative norms to protect your staffs from sexual abuse at work place? 3. What precautionary measures do you propose to protect your staffs from Sexual Harassments? Quantitative Questions (40 Health Care professional) (Kindly tick the most suitable option in your view) 1. Your perception of Sexual Harassment at workplace for Health care employees Very High High Yes, it happens but not an alarming case Rare I am not aware of such events 2. Are you aware of the procedures to follow in case there is such an occurrence Yes, I am Yes, but it’s unclear No Is there a process?! 3. Are you adequate training about your rights and responsibilities in case there is such an occurrence Yes, very much Yes, but unaware of the legislative clauses Neutral Not at all 4. Your awareness about who to approach in a case of sexual harassment, what steps needs to be followed to see you get justice Yes, very much Yes but unclear Neutral No, I am not aware Read More