Sexual harassment in the public service : a case study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of sexual harassment within the public service. It also aims at assessing to what extent employees know about the issue. Given the nature of the study, it was impossible to have a thorough view of the whole public service, so a group of people had to be chosen as participants, to investigate the issue. Choosing a number of nurses as a sample population was the most feasible since working at an institution which provides healthcare. A number of twenty nurses of both genders were chosen randomly and were interviewed in a semi-structured questionnaire. Because of the sensitive nature of the study it was important that the participants' identity or any references they made be kept anonymous. Results show that female staff is the most vulnerable to sexual harassment while most men feel that they are quite safe from being harassed. When compared to other studies, of other countries, this study seems to suggest that the Maltese employee is quite cautious but very much reserved about the whole issue.