Perceptions on the sexual harassment of female nurses in a state hospital in Sri Lanka: a qualitative study

ABSTRACTBackground: Sexual harassment occurs within the nursing profession globally, challenging the health and safety of nurses and the quality and efficiency of health systems. In Sri Lanka, no studies have explored this issue in the health sector; however, female employees face sexual harassment in other workplace settings.Objective: To explore female nurses’ perceptions of workplace sexual harassment in a large state hospital in Sri Lanka.Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted in an urban, mainly Buddhist and Singhalese context. We invited all female senior and ward nurses working in the hospital to participate in the study. We conducted individual in-depth interviews with four senior nurses and focus group discussions with 29 nurses in three groups.Results: The nurses described a variety of perceived forms of sexual harassment in the hospital. They discussed patient-perpetrated incidents as the most threatening and the clearest to identify compared with incidents involving doctors and other c...