On October 13, 2009, a forum entitled ‘Increasing care jobs, but hidden sexual harassment’ was hosted. There are increasing social demands on care jobs, and also women are concentrated in this sector. The KWWA did research on sexual harassment against care workers as a mean of encouraging care workers to obtain their rights to work. We at the KWWA shared pains and difficulties of sexual harassment victims in practice and urged the government to prepare for sexual harassment prevention polices and legal solutions through the forum.
The presentation on sexual harassment against care workers was followed by discussion by a researcher, women workers in the workplaces, and officers from the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, and after that, very active and dynamic discussions were carried out amongst the audience. A variety of good ideas came out to share tough situations of care workers and to prevent and regulate practical measures on sexual harassment. The forum was assessed as a good chance to share seriousness of sexual harassment against care workers and to discuss active solutions by many local care work-related groups.
<Content Summary>
A survey was conducted to grasp the issues related to sexual harassment against care workers. 34.8% of respondents answered that they had had sexual harassment. The fact shows care workers are not safe from sexual harassment. Since one care worker is hired by 4~5 clients a month on average, it was found that 41% had had sexual harassment by more than two offenders; and up to 73.9% had experienced more than once. Since clients (users) are usually the same people, having regular and constant relationship, sexual harassment issues against care workers are very serious and crucial. Sexual harassment issues should be tackled urgently.
The research showed that 37.8% requested help to their staffing agencies; 32.3% endured the terrible situations; and 21.3% complained to their clients. The high rate of support requests to their staffing agencies means that the agencies should take active action to tackle sexual harassment against care workers. As the major reasons why care workers endure, 44.7% answered ‘they could do so, because my clients were sick’; and 24.9% ‘I consider this as common because I have often had during my care work.’ The respondents replied that they had to endure because of the characteristics of care work, which shows that care workers view sexual harassment as a feature of in-home care work.
54.5% identified ‘clients did not take it seriously’ as the reason why sexual harassment has not been tackled even though they took action, which shows that sexual harassment issues cannot easily be tackled because clients do not consider this matter as sexual harassment. As countermeasures, 24.5% answered ‘care workers should receive regular sexual harassment prevention education’; 23.5% ‘codes of conduct should be formulated and so clients should receive education on that’; and 21.3% ‘the care service related administration should take action to prevent sexual harassment.’ We can see the demand on the provision of sexual harassment prevention education for clients as well as the need for the provision of sexual harassment prevention education targeting care workers. Additionally, the authority concerned (the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs) should put efforts to tackle sexual harassment against care workers as the government’s feasible countermeasures are demanded strongly due to the characteristics of care workers’ workplaces.
As seen from survey results, we looked at characteristics of in-home care services, detailed sexual harassment that care workers go through, and their responses to sexual harassment through analyzing in-depth interviews, in order to know the reasons why the issues are not visible but the number of victims has been increasing although sexual harassment against care workers is very serious. ‘Homes’ as private spaces where in-home care services are given are comfortable to clients, and workplaces to care workers, and so they can be not only spaces of intimacy but also closed places. Due to these features, in their houses service users (clients) can expose their sexual desires easily to care workers, because their faults can be concealed although they sexually harass care workers. Hence, the ‘house’ is the place where sexual harassment against care workers is immanent. Experienced care workers with long work experiences see their ability to endure sexual harassment wisely as their know-how. Due to the hidden characteristics of in-home services like this care workers do not take sexual harassment seriously. Hence, this issue is not socially addressed.
Care workers have various kinds of sexual harassment such as verbal, physical and visual ones, as we usually know. Largely male clients talked a lot about sex related matters to care workers. These kinds of talks are parts of the exposure of their sexual desires made to care workers. Their verbal sexual harassment related to sex is normally extended to physical and visual sexual harassment. There are certain patterns of sexual harassment against care workers: care workers are targeted not only for sexual harassment and romantic relationship but also for ‘introduction of women’ to them.
Care workers take sexual harassment against themselves as individual matters, viewing the matters as their faults. They confessed they had endured sexual harassment by their clients, saying “I don’t usually take small matters seriously.” Otherwise, they cannot continue their job. Care workers usually accept their patience as their know-how and usually put spells on themselves, believing offenders as their ‘patients,’ in order to endure sexual harassment. As seen the above, individual women workers take this as a personal matter, endure a lot and suffer from the pain a lot.
When care workers view sexual harassment too serious, they request their employment agencies to give a help to them. Since the agencies are the closest to care workers in the workplace, sexual harassment issues are revealed or hidden depending on the attitudes, awareness levels, and responses of the agencies. Even though the agencies take active action to sexual harassment, it is not feasible in practice if clients ‘stop receiving care service’. That’s because clients committing sexual harassment move to use others, and so sexual harassment issues are not tackled and further second and third victims are produced. Accordingly, the authority concerned which plans and manages the care sector should recognize this issue seriously and take countermeasures to address sexual harassment.
Care workers who had in-depth interviews are commonly affectionate toward their jobs. Actually, care work is very precious to them, because it is one of a few jobs which can be offered to middle-aged women. If sexual harassment against care workers is not tackled, amongst care workers there is high negative recognition of care work, which will not be developed into a decent job or guarantee high quality of service, either. Only when care work is reborn as a decent job, high quality of service for clients is ensured.
<Policy suggestions>
-Sexual harassment prevention act is needed to change bad service users into feasible and decent clients;
-Sexual harassment prevention education should be given not only to victims but also clients;
-Care services subjects including the authority concerned should be aware of sexual harassment issues and try to make solutions.