Chilling research on female surgeons! Those who have been subjected to sexual assault

A survey of NHS staff found that female surgeons said they had been sexually harassed, assaulted and, in some cases, raped by their colleagues.

About two-thirds of the female surgeons who participated in the research said they had been subjected to sexual harassment in the past 5 years, and a third said they had been sexually assaulted by their colleagues.

The study authors also noted that senior male surgeons were abusing female trainees and this was already happening in NHS hospitals.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England said the findings were “truly shocking”.

The research, carried out by the University of Exeter, the University of Surrey and the Sexual Misconduct in Surgery Working Group, was shared exclusively with the BBC.

63 PERCENT OF WOMEN WERE EXPOSED TO HARASSMENT

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 1,434 people responded, half of them were women.

According to the notable findings of that 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 cases of rape 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 on 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. (AA)