Perception and Experiences of Sexual Harassment among Nursing Students in Alexandria, Egypt

Sexual harassment is a widespread and serious problem in Egypt. Nursing profession
has been reported to have the possibility of sexual harassment in the medical field because
most of workers in nursing are still women in addition to their professional requirements.
Objective: Assess the perception and experiences of Sexual Harassment among Nursing
Students at the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt. Setting: The study was
carried out at the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt. Subjects: Subjects of the
study were 384 undergraduate nursing students selected from the four grades (192 males, 192
females) during the academic year 2014-2015. Tools: One tool was used for data collection
namely nursing students' perception and experiences of sexual harassment structured
interview schedule. It includes three parts covering data related to the students’ personal and
socio-demographic characteristics and their perception and experiences of sexual
harassment. Results: Findings of the present study revealed that the vast majority of the
female students experienced some forms of sexual harassment, while the majority of male
students had committed harassment especially verbal form. In addition, less than half of the
students had low perception about sexual harassment. Conclusion: The study concluded that
sexual harassment is a prevalent problem among nursing students. Recommendations:
Educational campaign to raise awareness toward the prevention and control of the problem
is need.