Background:

Sexual violence against women is one of the most serious public health problems. Sexual violence cannot be eradicated without addressing the social attitudes that condone it. The objective of this study was to evaluate the social perception of sexual harassment in the workplace of the workers of a hospital in the Comunidad de Madrid.

Methods:

A cross-sectional observational study was carried out on the perception of workplace sexual harassment in a sample of workers of the Hospital Universitario Severo Ochoa in the Comunidad de Madrid, through an anonymous survey that collected sociodemographic variables and the Illinois Sexual Harassment Myth Acceptance Scale (ISHMA). A descriptive analysis of the variables and a comparison of means with ANOVA were performed.

Results:

The survey had been completed by 243 employees (23,5% men; 44,9% workers between 25-35 years old). Statistically significant differences were found regarding gender in the average score of the ISHMA scale (p=0.002), with men presenting greater acceptance of the myths of sexual harassment (mean=2.0974; SD=1.09; n=57) compared to women (mean=2.7261; SD=0.68; n=184). However, in the rest of the variables (professional category [p=0.072], time worked [p=0.406] and age [p>0.251]) no statistically significant differences were found. 11% of the people surveyed considered that women can usually stop unrequested sexual attention by simply telling men that their behaviour is not appreciated.

Conclusions:

The percentage of employees that denies the different forms of sexual harassment is high. However, some myths about sexual harassment are accepted.

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