Experience of sexual harassment and coping strategies among students of the school of nursing of a tertiary hospital in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

This descriptive cross-sectional study documented the experience of sexual harassment (SH) and coping strategies among 250 consenting students of University College Hospital, Ibadan school of nursing, using a pre-tested questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were used to analyze the data at 5% level of significance. Mean age was 23.0 ± 4.1 years, 78.8% were females and 91.2% perceived SH to be common in the school. Fifty-eight percent of respondents (20.0% males, 80.0% females) had ever been sexually harassed. Main perpetrators of SH against females were male resident doctors (24.5%) and male patients (11.3%) while female colleagues (44.8%) and female patients (20.7%) were for males. Types of SH experienced were unwanted body contact (79.3%), breast contact (67.6%), enticement (45.5%), attempted rape (39.3%) and unwanted kiss (26.3%). Attending parties and mode of dressing were positively associated with experience of SH. Main coping strategies employed were reporting to school authority, ignoring the perpetrator, confrontation and breaking up the relationship. Sexual harassment is prevalent among the students studied, with females more affected. Coping strategies adopted were adjudged ineffective. Institutional based interventions such as sensitization, capacity building on coping strategy skills, legislation and policy reviews are needed to address these concerns.