Personal Safety and Fear of Sexual Harassment among Female Garment Workers in Bangladesh

Abstract

Personal safety and fear of sexual harassment may discourage women from participating at work and in public life, limiting their life opportunities. The study proposed to determine personal safety and fear of sexual harassment among female garment workers in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 201 female garment workers from Dhaka and Chittagong cities. Participants were selected using snowballing sampling techniques with the data collected by using anonymised questionnaires. The Pearson product–moment correlation and analysis of variance were employed using SPSS version 27.0. Results showed that 25% of the participants perceived that they were most likely to be sexually harassed by their manager and 25% never felt safe going to work. Age and the marital status of the participants were significantly associated with personal safety and fear of sexual harassment (p < 0.05). The correlation analysis found a significant positive correlation between personal safety and the fear of sexual harassment [r (201) = 0.85 **, p < 0.05], among the participants. A deep commitment from leadership with cooperation at all levels of the organisations is required to address these acts of violence and organisational conditions, rather than a form of unreflective compliance or a ‘gender-neutral’ approach that fails to recognise individual needs and maintain gender inequality.

Sexual harassment prevention program for Indonesian nursing aides: a mixed-methods study

“…Our results are consistent with a prior study that showed that anti-sexual harassment programs can be effective for improving knowledge and attitudes among nurse aides in long term care facilities [24]. That study noted that fear of speaking up and not knowing how to respond were associated with less personal safety [19], [24], [25]. Another study found a significant positive correlation between personal safety and the fear of sexual harassment and demonstrated that a culturally sensitive and institutionally-based approach was not only useful at the individual level, it positively affected workplace culture for women at the institutional level [26].…”

“…The results were statistically significant p=0.001, so the primary hypothesis was confirmed that participating in the sexual harassment program is associated with more knowledge about sexual harassment and ways of dealing with it. Our results are consistent with a prior study that showed that anti-sexual harassment programs can be effective for improving knowledge and attitudes among nurse aides in long term care facilities [24]. That study noted that fear of speaking up and not knowing how to respond were associated with less personal safety [19], [24], [25].…”

“…Higher education level has been significantly and positively linked to problem solving performance, along with other factors such as ethics, intellectual honesty, prudence, and clinical practice experience. Moreover, problem solving ability is higher among nurses who have job satisfaction in the workplace [24]. Possible responses to sexual harassment range from withdrawal and avoidance, to actions aimed at distracting the perpetrator, for example, changing the subject of conversation, using humor, removing patients' hands from their body, leaving the room, not wearing revealing clothes, and avoiding bending down or turning their back to patients who pose a high risk.…”

“…Female victims of harassment suffer in ways that affect their work performance, yet threats to personal safety from sexual harassment remain common among health workers. In one study from Bangladesh, female FNAs never felt safe going to work due to their fear of sexual harassment [24]. This kind of situation produces moral dilemmas and has serious consequences for female workers in particular.…”