Sexual Harassment at Work Among Tunisian Women Physicians

Abstract

Sexual harassment at work is receiving increasing attention, particularly as women’s participation rates in the labor force increase. The purpose of this study was to evaluate women doctors’ perception of sexual harassment (SH) and assess SH prevalence in this population, compared with a control group. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of Tunisian women doctors compared with a control group. We used a questionnaire exploring the knowledge of the participants about SH and personal experience. 154 women received the questionnaire. The response rate was 62.3% (65 women doctors and 31 non-medical women). Only 32.3% of female physicians were able to provide a formal definition of SH versus 22.6% in the non-physician group. We didn’t find a difference between the two groups concerning the perception of nonverbal forms of SH. Doctors said they were more victims of SH at work than non-medical women (27.7% vs. 16.1%). We found a statistically significant relationship between being a witness of SH and being a victim of SH at work in the group of doctors. Most women in Tunisia do not seem to recognize SH. Therefore, studies on a larger scale as well as educational and informative campaigns seem to be necessary.