Attack on nurse sparks outrage on social media
Çetin Aydın - ISTANBUL
After a nurse in Silivri district of Istanbul was attacked by a patient's relatives who pulled her hair, many health workers shared photos of themselves cutting a lock of their hair on social media as a protest against the increasing cases of violence in healthcare facilities.
On Sept. 6, a nurse in Silivri State Hospital identified as S.Y. was attacked by the relatives of a patient when she asked them to leave the examination room while she was treating the patient.
Angered by her request, three female relatives beat S.Y. and dragged her on the floor by pulling her hair, local media reported.
With the intervention of hospital security and several bystanders, the nurse managed to escape from the hands of the attackers and was treated at the same hospital.
A complaint was filed against the three attackers, yet it was reported that they were released after their initial statements at the police station.
The incident drew widespread outrage from health workers across the country and sparked a major debate on social media.
Healthcare workers, especially nurses, started sharing photos of themselves cutting their hair with the hashtag “don't touch my hair” across several social media platforms.
Speaking to local media, Vildan Aydın, president of the Association of Health Officers, Nurses and Midwives, said that the act of cutting hair is the cry of women against pain and grief in many cultures.
“We are deeply wounded as a whole community in these attacks on each of us, in this context, our female health professional friends carried out this meaningful protest on social media to express our feelings. Society should be informed that violence is not a way of communication, and the issue of violence in healthcare should no longer be a wound of this society,” she said, urging the authorities to implement more deterrent penalties.
