title: Workplace sexual harassment in two general hospitals in Taiwan: the incidence, perception, and gender differences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to examine sexual harassment (SH) among hospital staffs in Taiwan, in terms of three-month incidence rate, the frequency of each type and the perception of SH, perpetrated by coworkers, patients and patients' families and to investigate the gender differences for these issues.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were employees at two general hospitals in Taiwan. The self-administered "Hospital Sexual Harassment Questionnaire" was sent to eligible staff, and the voluntary respondents answered the questionnaire anonymously. There were 536 respondents available for analysis, with an overall response rate of 43.4%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The three-month incidence rates of SH by coworkers, patients, and patients' families in our study population were 2.4, 4.3, and 1.7%, respectively. Telling sexual jokes was the most common type of SH. The males had greater opportunities to be exposed to porn videos by their coworkers. The females were more frequently exposed to sex jokes and remarks made by patients and their family members and unwanted physical touching by patients in the workplace. There were significant differences with regard to the perception of sex jokes and sexually explicit verbal descriptions as SH or not between genders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The information in this study can be a helpful reference for administrators in hospitals when they are establishing education plans and policies. It might be possible to prevent sexual harassment and misunderstandings between genders and to further avoid the negative impact on the emotional well-being of workers in hospitals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
authors.forename: Liang-Jen
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chih-Ken
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yi-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Pei-Wen
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yi-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Huei-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jyh-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D017406:Sexual Harassment / Q000523:psychology*; D013624:Taiwan; D017132:Workplace