PERCEIVED MAGNITUDE OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN LEARNING INSTITUTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF KENYA MEDICAL TRAINING COLLEGE, NAIROBI
Victoria Otsyula Koi - Kenya Medical Training College, Kenya
Dr. Joash Auka - Kenya Medical Training College, Kenya
Dr. Solomon Kilaha - Kenya Medical Training College, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Harassment is any form of behavior whether verbal, non-verbal, or physical that embarrasses a person. It takes the form of sexual harassment, racial, personal, bullying, age and Stalking among others. Sexual harassment is therefore unwanted coercion for sexual favors. Although legislation, disciplinary and grievance procedures have been amended to deal with the issue in the workplace, this remains a hidden problem which warrants the need for a study to establish sexual harassment in learning institutions. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Kenya Medical Training College, Nairobi was chosen as the area of study with students and staff being the target population. The population was stratified into staff and students. Students’ stratum was further stratified into 3 substrata (1st, 2nd, and 3rd years). The staff was further stratified into 2 substrata (teaching and non-teaching). The respondents were selected randomly from the substrata. The sample for the study was made up of 356 respondents. Questionnaires were used to collect data which was coded for analysis using SPSS. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed. The quantitative data was interpreted in charts, tables, and graphs while qualitative data was presented in descriptive narration. Strict confidentiality was maintained throughout the study to maintain ethical concerns. The findings showed that (57%) of the student’s respondents have never experienced any form of sexual harassment while, (43%) have experienced some forms of sexual harassment that range from physical, verbal and non-verbal sexual violence. From the total number of students, 34% are aware of where to report any case of Sexual Harassment, whereas 66% are not aware of where to report any case of Sexual Harassment. The findings indicated that 73% of the staff have never experienced any form of sexual harassment whereas 27% have experienced some type of sexual harassment that ranges from physical, verbal and non-verbal sexual violence. 38% of the staff were aware of where to report any case of Sexual Harassment whereas 52% are not aware of where to report any case of Sexual Harassment.
