Agenda setting of 'sexual harassment of women at workplace act, 2013:' an analysis of decadal training programme of healthcare providers on gender-based violence

Background: Training of healthcare providers on gender-based violence has emerged as a way of teaching them how to address gender-based health inequalities in their work. For a long time, the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) has been training healthcare professionals on gender-based violence (GBV) and policy-related issues. Aims and Objectives: The article tries to document the analysis of the decadal training programme on GBV by NIHFW on various aspects of the trainees nominated by the state health authorities or policymakers in India, with a focus on the changing scenario before and after the enactment of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013. Materials and Methods: The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional analysis of secondary data from 10 years gathered by NIHFW. A total of 250 healthcare providers were nominated from different states of India by the higher authorities to attend the training programme. Participants’ variables such as sex, professional qualifications and feedback in terms of narratives were analysed to compare issues that emerged before and after the enactment of the Act. Results: Two phenomena impede gender mainstreaming in the healthcare system. First, women’s participation with a limited male nomination in the gender training programmes inherently reinforces stereotypes of gender roles in the healthcare system. Second, gender training has yet to entail medical professionals’ participation, so it remains that gender is a ‘non medical’ social concern for the health professional. Conclusion: In order to achieve policy objectives, the capacity to integrate the gender divide across healthcare professionals is essential. While medical and non-medical convergence is critical in light of the health consequences of GBV, the continued exclusion of men from the capacity-building strategy will impede seamless policy implementation and gender-sensitive internalisation of organisational behaviours.