Women working at medical institutions are exposed more to abusive language, violence, and sexual assaults than men but show a strong tendency to solve these problems by tolerating and enduring them, a report said.
The Korean Health and Medical Workers Union (KHMU) released “An analysis of the impact of female health care workers in medical institutions on labor safety and health" on International Women’s Day Wednesday.
The union and Korea University Institute for Research and Labor and Employment analyzed the gender gap concerning work environment, office bullying, and industrial accident experiences using fact-finding statistical data made by union members.
The analysis showed the share of women who experienced workplace bullying, such as verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, was higher than men regardless of the survey year.
In 2021, 63.9 percent of female medical workers said they experienced abusive language, violence, and sexual assault, compared to 37.4 percent of male workers. The share of workers verbally abused was 62.7 percent for women and 36.8 percent for men; the rate of assaulted women was 21.7 percent against men, 11.7 percent; and that of sexually assaulted women was 13.2 percent for women vs. 3.9 percent for men.
Women and men also made different responses to office bullying. They both adopted noninstitutionalized approaches by putting up with these abuses or asking for help from colleagues and superiors. However, the share of women who asked requested in-house organizations’ help, including unions and grievance settlement committees, or made legal and institutional responses, was only half of the men.
Women attributed workplace bullying to manpower shortages within their departments. In 2018, 81.7 percent of women cited workforce shortage as a factor affecting office bullying. However, women also had more negative perceptions of other reasons, including “excessive workload,” “undue out-of-work duty,” and “performing tasks outside of authority and responsibility.”
The gender gap also revealed itself in the experience rate of industrial accidents. According to KHMU, more women than men experienced industrial diseases, such as sleep and musculoskeletal disorders.
In 2020, 40.2 percent of female workers experienced musculoskeletal diseases, higher than their male counterparts, 35.0 percent. In addition, the share of women experiencing sleep disorders was also higher than men, at 41.0 percent vs. 23.1 percent. The union explained that the women, including nurses, were more exposed to various diseases as they used their muscles excessively to change patients’ positions due to irregular work schedules in three shifts.
“In 2021, the shares of female medical workers experiencing verbal and physical abuses and sexual assaults were higher than men by 1.7 times, 1.9 times, and 3.4 times,” the union said. “Their responses also revealed many problems. Instead of opting for legal and institutional solutions, women endured and tolerated these abuses until they quit the job in a vicious circle.”
The union stressed the demands of female workers at medical institutions to ensure work safety and replenish the workforce were aimed at defending the public’s right to health.
“Only when does the government implement its agreement with the union to work out workforce standard, expand integrated service between nursing and caregiving, and increase doctors, can the work environment for female medical workers improve,” it added.