Hardly any help for those affected: When nursing staff are sexually harassed

Sexual harassment at work also occurs in nursing care – but it is hardly talked about. Professional help is not available everywhere either. Affected people feel alone.

A suggestive gesture here, an offensive saying there – Julia Förster has been working as a nurse in Berlin for nine years and has been sexually harassed by patients several times, as in this incident in a senior citizens’ flat share: “I finished in the evening, wiped the floor. There a colleague came in and said: ‘Mr. Sowieso, why are you jerking off the colleague?’ I heard that and turned around and saw the patient sitting there getting his penis out and playing with himself.”

Situations like this are not unique. That shows a nationwide Study of the professional association for health service and welfare care from 2021, which distinguishes between different forms of sexual harassment and violence: starting with non-verbal sexual harassment, through verbal forms, to physical harassment and violence, such as unwanted patting, kissing, to massive sexual physical assaults.

multitude of assaults

Almost 70 percent of the nursing staff surveyed in inpatient facilities had been confronted with verbal sexual harassment at least once within twelve months. About half experienced physical assaults. According to the study, some employees were even forced to engage in sexual acts. Despite the large number of attacks, a third of the nursing staff do not know which offers the respective company provides for prevention or aftercare. Especially trainees and less experienced nursing staff are overwhelmed with these situations.

Förster reports that it is rarely talked about. This was only briefly an issue during training. But it was never about how to act and react in such situations. Rather, nurses are desperately looking for contacts.

More staff, better working conditions

Claudia Moll is the federal government’s care agent. The SPD politician worked in care for 30 years and experienced attacks herself. minor pleads in ARD lunchtime magazine for more staff and better working conditions: “That means you have more time for discussions.” She advocates talking about it in the team, with the employers. “The employer is obliged to take care of it.”

On request, the Ministry of Health said that the goal was to “optimize the prevention of violence in care and to promote the qualification of professional caregivers (…) with regard to dealing with challenging behavior (…). ” In addition, one wants to expand “individual and universal preventive measures, counseling and supervision offers (…).”

Get out of the taboo zone

Julia Förster wants to talk, deal with what she has experienced. She also uses social media for this. She is now a successful grooming influencer. More than 50,000 people follow her on each of her channels. When she reported on sexual harassment in nursing, many of those affected reported their own experiences.

Not least because of the large number of victims, Förster demands that those responsible for politics also take care of the problem of sexual harassment in care. After all, those affected are at high risk of being left traumatized, suffering from burnout or depression, or changing job to job. And that in an industry that is already suffering from a massive shortage of skilled workers.