BBC revealed that female surgeons in England were sexually harassed, assaulted and raped by their colleagues.
According to a report by the British broadcaster BBC, a survey conducted with British National Health System (NHS) staff found that female surgeons said they were sexually harassed, assaulted and raped by their colleagues.
Approximately two-thirds of the female surgeons who participated in the survey said that they had been subjected to sexual harassment in the last 5 years, and one-third said that they had been sexually assaulted by their colleagues.
The authors of the study also noted that female trainees were being abused by senior male surgeons and this was already occurring in NHS hospitals.
The Royal College of Surgeons of England said the findings were “truly shocking”.
The research, conducted by the University of Exeter, the University of Surrey and the Sexual Misconduct in Surgery Working Group, was shared exclusively with the BBC.
RESEARCH: 63 PERCENT OF WOMEN WERE EXPOSED TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT BY THEIR CO-WORKERS
On the other hand, in a new study to be published in the British Journal of Surgery, male and female surgeons registered in the country were invited to participate in the research anonymously. In the survey to which 1434 people responded, half of these people were women.
According to the prominent findings of the said study, 63 percent of women were subjected to sexual harassment by their colleagues, 30 percent were sexually assaulted by a colleague and at least 11 rapes were reported.
Although the research revealed that men (24 percent) were also exposed to some of these behaviors, it was concluded that male and female surgeons “experience different realities.”
A second study, titled “Breaking the Silence: Addressing Sexual Misconduct in Healthcare,” also makes recommendations about what needs to change in the industry.
The two studies in question suggested that the proportion of female surgeons was relatively low (about 28 percent), that surgery was highly hierarchical and provided significant power to some men, all combined with the high-stress environment of surgery. (BBC)
