As múltiplas violências vivenciadas por farmacêuticas no ambiente laboral.

Abstract

The insertion of women in the labor market is an achievement with a complex historical construction. However, the sexual division of labor causes women to face considerable gender inequity, causing frequent situations of workplace violence. In the pharmaceutical professional field, in Brazil and in the state of Minas Gerais, a female majority and the insertion in different working environments is observed, which puts pharmacists in contact with the public and multiple professional partnerships. However, although some studies address violence against other health professionals, to the author’s knowledge, there is no study on this topic from the perspective of women pharmacists. In this context, the objective of this study was to identify and analyze the characteristics of situations of workplace violence experienced by women pharmacists. To this end, a qualitative study was developed based on the content analysis of an online survey, applied to women pharmacists registered with the Regional Council of Pharmacy of Minas Gerais. The responses of 381 women pharmacists to the following questions were analyzed collectively using the NVivo® software: “Have you ever felt professionally impaired by being a woman in your workplace?”; “Have you ever been exposed to violence and/or threat of violence in your workplace?”; "Have you ever been exposed to unwanted sexual attention in your workplace?" Four main categories were identified: “Living with disrespect, threats and vulnerability”, “Sexism and structural sexism that silences, diminishes and stuns”, “Discrimination against women as an obstacle to equity”, “Sexual harassment and the objectification of women". These themes brought to light the different expressions of violence in the workplace involving pharmacists and coming from multiple aggressors. Pharmacists acknowledged being professionally impaired and receiving little recognition for their technical capacity. The reports also exposed the lack of guarantee of protection, dignity and integrity of pharmacists in the worplace. It is hoped that these results can contribute to bringing to light gender inequality in the context of pharmaceutical workplace, and, more specifically, situations of violence in this environment, expanding the discussion and providing the evolution of this mostly female profession.