Is workplace violence against health care workers in Mozambique gender related?

Int J Health Plann Manage. 2023 Jan;38(1):265-269. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3603. Epub 2022 Nov 30.

Abstract

This report revisits data used to describe the typology and the perceived impact of violence against health care workers (VHCW) at the health services of the City of Lichinga in Mozambique, based on an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study, carried out from March to May 2019. In this report we attempt to understand if our reanalysis of VHCW in Niassa can explain it as an example of gender-based violence. Our findings-particularly that women more than men reported not knowing if the health services had any policies or procedures to deal with VHCW, felt that they were not encouraged to report acts of VHCW and were more frequently threatened/violented by different sex aggressors-although not conclusive, support the need to consider gender as a dimension when conducting research on VHCW. If we do not do so, gender will continue to be an invisible and ignored dimension of intervention strategies to prevent and address VHCW.

Keywords: Mozambique; gender; healthcare workers; workplace violence.

Publication types

  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Health Personnel
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mozambique
  • Workplace
  • Workplace Violence*