Globally, 45 percent of doctors have felt sexually harassed in various ways, reports The Guardian. Female doctors are the most exposed: 52.2 percent have experienced patients putting them in uncomfortable situations. Among male doctors, the figure was 34.4 percent.
This can involve everything from physical assault to inappropriate jokes. Many doctors report that patients make sexual advances and romantic or sexual invitations during healthcare visits.
Some patients also expose unwanted body parts and request unnecessary examinations of intimate body parts, writes The Guardian. Or react inappropriately – such as getting an erection.
The study, published in Internal Medicine Journal, consists of an analysis of 22 previously published studies from several countries around the world. Doctors in the UK reported being the most affected, followed by Canada, Australia, the USA, Israel, Germany, and Malaysia.
The findings should prompt hospitals to take action and ensure the protection of their employees, says Dr. Caroline Kamau-Mitchell at the British Birkbeck College to The Guardian.
I recommend that hospitals and clinics take these results seriously and provide doctors working in separate departments, night shifts, or alone with protection in the form of surveillance cameras and alarm systems, she says.
