Promoting Gender Equality in the Health Workforce: An Advocacy Tool

Country Examples

 

Below are country-specific and global examples of national, regional, and global analyses and/or responses to gender discrimination in the health workforce.

  • Argentina, Ghana, India, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Uganda, United Kingdom: International Development Research Centre’s comparative analysis of tax policy and gender equity, including policy recommendations
  • Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States: An analysisof labor force surveys for 18 countries with developed economies found that women’s incomes were generally lower than men’s incomes, and that women made up higher proportions of lower-level professions and smaller proportions of managerial or leadership roles.
  • India: A special qualitative study found that female health workers across cadres (e.g., physician, nurse) and facility levels reported experiencing sexual and other forms of workplace harassment. Incidents were perpetrated by colleagues, patients, and senior staff or supervisors. However, fewer than half made a formal complaint, possibly due to lack of awareness or confidence in the complaints mechanism, fear of retribution, or cultural norms.
  • Lesotho: Interviews and focus groups revealed a perception that women are often expected to be the primary family caregivers, and that they these roles are reproduced in community-based HIV/AIDS caregiving and that they are not compensated for their work .
  • Kenya: Chuka University’s code of conduct and ethics policy, which applies to all staff, faculty, and students
  • Kenya: An assessment of Kenyan health training institutions found that female nursing faculty are more heavily concentrated in lower-paying positions, even though the nursing workforce is primarily female.
  • Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda: Affirmative action admission to universities
  • Rwanda: In a study, both male and female health workers reported being victims of verbal abuse, bullying, and physical attack, while more female health workers reported being sexually harassed.
  • South Africa: Employment Equity Act and related regulations
  • South Africa: Child care at the University of Cape Town
  • South Africa: Radio and television show Soul City specifically addresses violence against women in its fourth series 
  • Tanzania: An analysis of health facilities found that the nursing and midwifery cadres primarily consist of women, while the clinical officer and physician cadres primarily consist of men.
  • Uganda: A review of male and female health workers in the public sector health workforce at 12 representative sites found that higher percentages of men in higher pay grades and higher percentages of women in lower pay grades.
  • Uganda: Ministry report defining characteristics of a family-friendly workplace (Appendix D)
  • United States: Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
  • United States: A survey of medical school students and residents found that reported exposure to gender discrimination and sexual harassment affected significantly more women than men in their choice of career specialty and ranking of residency programs.
  • Global: This ILO fact sheet on “Sexual Harassment at Work” cites reports of sexual harassment rates in the workplace in Hong Kong, Italy and Australia, and notes that countries such as Brazil, Belize and the Philippines have legislations targeting sexual harassment.

 

Promoting Gender Equality in the Health Workforce: An Advocacy Tool