Survey: Female dentists vulnerable to harassment

A survey by the Indonesian Dental Association reveals that female dentists are highly vulnerable to sexual harassment by their male patients, according to a story in the Jakarta Post. Results from the survey were presented this week at a seminar held in Jakarta in cooperation with the World Dental Federation.

"Dental clinicians work in close proximity to patients and in various positions that could be considered risky in the sense of sexual harassment," said keynote speaker Dr. Paulus Januar of Moestopo University's School of Public Health and Dentistry, according to the Post story.

Of the 113 Indonesian female dentists polled in the survey, 28 reported having been sexually harassed, the Post reported. The survey also showed 20% of male patients sexually harassed their female dentists either verbally (9.7%), physically, by touching or trying to embrace (8%), and gesturing provocatively (7.1%), according to the news story.