Introduction

As a result of their increasing participation in the economic activities, women’s reliance on their husbands has decreased and their socio-economic status is improving through time [1]. Women are increasingly participating in the productive economic activities, including the formal sector, representing more than 42% of the global paid working population [2,3]. Following their increased involvement in the public sphere, women meet new health hazards [4]. Women’s participation in the labor force shows the importance and contribution of women to economic productivity, hence, the need for occupational health and safety concerns [5]. However, the beneficial effect of women’s participation in economic activities on the lives partly depends on the nature of work and the work environment, among other things [6].

Though all workers are exposed to occupational violence, women are greatly affected and relatively more vulnerable to workplace violence compared to their men counterparts [7]. Gender inequalities in the workplace have become increasingly important following more women joining the work force [8]. Although men tend to be at greater risk of direct physical assault as a result of their engagement in the commonly ‘men’s jobs,’ such as women are found in many of the occupations with a high-risk of sexual harassment, violence and threats of violence, working in contact with the public in banks, bookmakers, shops and in solitary settings [5,9,10]. According to [11], violence against women is a means of control and oppression by men. Above all, workplace violence should be understood as a reflection of the general phenomenon of violence in many areas of social life [12].

Gender-based violence against women is the most prevalent form of abuse worldwide, affecting one third of all women in their lifetime [13]. It ranges from sexual harassment to rape, domestic violence to trafficking [14]. It is recognized as a health, economic development, and human rights concern that both reflects and reinforces inequalities between women and men [15,16]. A study undertaken in Zimbabwe, for instance, uncovered the impact of gender-based violence on the reproductive health of women [17]. In addition, the negative impacts of gender discrimination on development and poverty alleviation has been found by [18]. While factors such as working alone, working with the public, and in educational settings have been identified as task-related risk factors, the working environment such as organizational setting and managerial style, as well as the workplace culture are workplace risk factors for the prevalence of workplace violence against women [16]. [19] maintain that working with customers or the public is among the factors that put people at increased risk of workplace violence and sellers of alcohol are among the occupational groups that tend to be at risk from workplace violence.

Women are at an increased risk of violence, harassment and bullying both in and outside the workplace [9,20]. Due to the dual burden women shoulder both at home and outside, they are exposed to workplace violence in addition to the one they experience at home [9]. The question of women’s safety in the workplace is at the nexus of women as workers, as mothers, as victims of violence against women, and sexual and gender-based violence [21]. Ethiopia is at the forefront of the countries where women experience violence of all sorts at home and in the workplace to the extent it become a significant and serious human rights and public health issue [22,23]. Women in Ethiopia are affected by discriminatory policies and gender norms; they are nearly three times more likely be unemployed than men and when they are employed, they are forced to take on vulnerable forms of employment [24]. Above all, differences between women and men’s unequal exposure to workplace violence are reinforced by sex-segregated workplaces [16].

According to EU-OSHA [8], the occupational health risks encountered by female workers are especially high for those women who work within the agriculture, the hotels, restaurants and catering, the transport as well as the manufacturing sectors. In Ethiopia, there is a high level of workplace violence against women that often leads to an extended loss of productive working days [25]. Lack of information about women’s rights, limited access to legal services, insensitivity of law enforcement bodies, and the generally poor status of women in the society are some of the main reasons that accounted for the continuation of violence against women in Ethiopia [22].

Findings of previous empirical literatures show exposure of employed women to various types of workplace violence and ill health conditions, including the impacts of such exposure on women’s overall physical, biological, psychological, and social life. For instance, a study of women’s health working in the mining sector by Botha [26] revealed that women are still exploited and sexually harassed in the mining industry. Moreover, Tawiah, et al. [27] found high level of morbidity in the form of headache, body ache, problems with vision, cough and breathlessness in Brick Kiln and Construction industries of India. Widespread prevalence of sexual harassment among women working in the health care has also been noted [28,29]. Furthermore, the findings of a research in to women’s occupational health and safety in the informal economy suggested that maternal market traders face some occupational health risks that have a significant toll on their physical, mental and social health [6]. Moreover, a study of workplace violence among male and female Turkish employees of various sectors undertaken by Akinci, et al. [30] found that nearly half of the workers reported that they had been subjected to a violent event at their workplaces. Workplace violence against women working in the hotel sector, however, is little studied. According to Lippel [7], other types of violence to which women are relatively more exposed than men either at work, because of the nature of their work, or while they travel to and from work, are less often addressed through a gender lens. The characteristics of violence commonly committed against women differ in critical respects from violence commonly committed against men though both can be victims as well as perpetrators of violence [31]. Day to day observations of the hotel, cafeteria, restaurant and liquor selling sectors in Ethiopia reveal that lower level occupational strata and daily routines are predominantly occupied by women while managerial and other “better” positions are held by males. Given the patriarchal nature of the society, women are not only assigned to (often willingly and due to lack of alternatives) less rewarding positions, but also remain highly susceptible to exploitation, gender-based discrimination, and workplace violence. Waitresses working in the sectors under consideration are among these women in Ethiopia whose maltreatment has always been unnoticed and often considered acceptable. Above all, the absence of empirical research findings in the area has also seems to have contributed for the maintenance of the status quo. The objective of the present study was, therefore, to explore workplace violence against women working as waitresses in various hotels, restaurants, cafeterias and grocery stores of Wolaita Sodo town, southern Ethiopia.

Materials and methods

Results

Discussion

The present study particularly focused on women working as waitresses in the various hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, and cafeterias of Wolaita Sodo town, southern Ethiopia. Qualitative data were collected by interviewing 16 (sixteen) waitresses and thematically analyzed. Accordingly, the results of the study have shown that the incidence of workplace violence against waitresses in the study area is high. This result is consistent to Yemane [22] who found that Ethiopia has one of the highest prevalence of sexual, emotional, and physical violence against women in the work place. According to Abera, et al. [25], there is a high level of workplace injuries that often leads to an extended loss of productive working days in Ethiopia, where occupational safety and health services are inadequately organized. Moreover, a study of workplace violence among Turkish employees of various sectors undertaken by Akinci, et al. [30] found that nearly half of the workers reported that they had been subjected to a violent event at their workplaces. According to CCOHS [19] working with customers or the public is among the work factors that put people at increased risk of workplace violence and sellers of alcohol are among the occupational groups that tend to be at risk from workplace violence. Women are at particular risk of violence, harassment and bullying both in and outside the workplace [9,20].

The most commonly reported type of workplace violence in the present study is verbal abuse, mostly manifested in insisting the victims to provide their phone number to the male customers. Furthermore, waitresses are also found to be exposed to other forms of verbal abuses including insulting and humiliation, bulldozing/scaremongering and intimidation. In addition to the verbal abuse, incidents of physical violence have also been reported where slapping on the face, beatings, touching on sexual or private parts, spitting, twitting a hand, and simple physical assaults are commonly experienced by the waitresses. The finding is consistent to Akinci, et al. [30] who found that the most common type of violence was verbal abuse, followed by bullying, physical assault and sexual harassment. A study of women’s health working in the mining sector by Botha [26] revealed that women are still exploited and sexually harassed in the mining industry. Incidents taking place daily vary from whistling; name calling; use of vulgar or derogatory language; display of body parts; physical contact, ranging from touching to sexual assault and rape; to the exchange of sexual favors for promotion. Melak [32] found a high prevalence of violence against female university students the rate of which ranges from the most frequent form, i.e., verbal harassment in the form of insult and catcall, to complete or attempted rapes which are the rare type of sexual violence against female students.

While we found high incidences of workplace violence against women in the study area, research participants also disclosed that the level of exposure to the violence varies across various circumstances, including working in large and small towns, the situation of the owners/supervisors, public’s insight of the position, waitresses’ ability to speak the local language, the role of the waitresses, customers’ behavior and the specific context in which waitresses work. Workplace violence against women is rooted in perpetrator’s sense of power, control, and entitlement, gender-based stereotypes, perpetrator’s use of alcohol and other drugs, and victim’s blaming ideas, such as the belief that a victim somehow “asked for it” by the way s/he behaves, dresses or lives [33]. According to ILO [16], risk factors for victims include their age, experience, being female, and attitudes and expectations (perceived vulnerability). Workplace risk factors are comprised of the working environment such as organizational setting and managerial style, as well as the workplace culture and external environment. Task-related risk factors include working alone, with the public and/or people in distress, and in educational settings. The main causes for the exposure of females to different forms of violence are legal and structural, such as the absence of sound policy on girls in general and gender-based violence in particular. In addition, the absence of gender sensitivity in the legislations of organizations and the absence of a clear mandate and authority for the existing gender focal point institution is also another serious challenge [32]. The existence of relevant national legislative frameworks on gender-based violence as well as a workplace-level policy and implementation strategy are also important contextual factors [16]. Concerns of workers’ occupational health and safety have been given attention in Ethiopian Federal Negarith Gazeth proclamation no. 1/1995 [34]. Article 42 (2) of the proclamation, for instance, provides that workers have the right to reasonable limitation of working hours, to rest, leisure, to periodic leaves with pay, to remuneration for public holidays as well as healthy and safe work environment.

Findings of the present study reveal that waitresses adopt different mechanisms of surviving workplace violence. Ignorance has been reported to be the most commonly practiced type of coping strategy against workplace violence, followed by reporting to the owners/supervisors, and changing a workplace. The result is once again consistent to Akinci, et al. [30] who found that victims preferred to ignore or deny the violent act instead of fighting against it. According to their study, the most frequently reported way victims react to workplace violence was talking to colleagues about the violent act, followed by talking with family and friends and warning the perpetrator, “doing nothing,” “pretending nothing had happened”, and “getting help from the police.” Fredrickson [35] found that the main reasons that employees do not report workplace violence include fear of their supervisor’s reaction, lack of company procedures/policies, lack of training, becoming the ‘office snitch’, and fear of retaliation. According to the finding of the Fredrickson’s study, employees afraid to report potential workplace violence to their supervisor because they think the supervisor will over-react or think they are unable to handle their own job/responsibilities. Lack of information about women’s rights, limited access to legal services, insensitivity of law enforcement bodies, and the generally poor status of women in the society are some of the main reasons that accounted for the continuation of violence against women [22]. Above all, workplace violence can be considered as a reflection of the general and increasing phenomenon of violence in many areas of social life which has to be broadly viewed at the level of the whole society [12]. The findings of the present study significantly contribute to existing knowledge on workplace violence and gender-based violence. Above all, it narrows the gap in the empirical literature as far as the workplace violence faced by women working in hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, and grocery stores is concerned.

Conclusion

The results of the research indicated that waitresses are highly exposed to workplace violence both on account of their occupation of presumably a ‘less prestigious position’ and their sex. While waitresses are generally exposed to all forms of violence including spitting, throwing objects, simple physical assault, touching on private parts, and intimidation, verbal abuse and emotional exploitations are found to be the most experienced ones. Although waitresses rarely experience violence from female customers, the most common perpetrators involved in the violence were males. Above all, whereas the vulnerability of waitresses to workplace violence has been noted, level of exposure to the violence varies depending on the personal qualities of the owners/supervisors, the nature of the workplace itself and the socio-economic status of the customers served in those workplaces, waitresses’ ability to speak the local language, peoples’ perception of the position and responsibility of the waitresses, the manner in which the waitresses serve the customers, and the particular context in which waitresses work. Ignorance, mostly motivated by fear of losing one’s job, was the common way waitresses respond to the violence. The study implies the vulnerability state of waitresses partly due to lack of adequate awareness regarding the rights and obligations expected of an employee when working in such organizations. This is again exacerbated by the lack of formal employment procedures in such organizations. These circumstances have contributed to waitresses’ lack of job security and the fear of other possible further consequences when deciding to react to violence in the way it safeguards their rights. Furthermore, the wrong perception of the public about the position of waitress and the absence of concern from the side of the owners about workplace violence are also other aggravating factors. Hence, awareness creation and supervisory activities are expected from the media, workers’ and social security office of the government, police and other concerned bodies.

Supporting information

Acknowledgments

First of all, we would like to forward our heartfelt gratitude to the owners and managers of the hotels, cafeterias, restaurants and grocery stores in Wolaita Sodo town who have positively replied to our request and allowed the initial contact with the waitresses. Moreover, all the participants of the study who have devoted their time in providing genuine data also deserve appreciation.