A third of female surgeons in the United Kingdom say they have suffered sexual assault by colleagues: “The sweat dried on my chest”

2023-09-12 17:00:13

Updated Tuesday, September 12, 2023 – 17:00

0.8% of female surgeons say they have been raped by a colleague, both in the workplace and outside of it

Surgeons in an operating room.EL MUNDO

Almost one in three female surgeons in the British public health system (NHS) claims to have suffered a sexual assault in the last five years, according to a new study.

The report, published by the British Journal of Surgery, It was prepared from surveys of 1,704 operating theater workers (from surgeons to resident doctors), more than half of them women, and produced findings that have led the Royal College of Surgeons to describe it as “very shocking.”

63% of those surveyed reported having suffered some type of sexual misconduct by their colleagues, a figure that in the case of men rises to 23%.

Almost one in three (29.9%) female surgeons said they had suffered some type of sexual assault, from touching to rape, while 6.9% of men said the same.

The study found that one in ten of those workers had experienced some type of “forced physical contact linked to job opportunities”.

Meanwhile, 0.8% of female surgeons say they have been raped by a colleague, both in the workplace and outside of it.

The studio gives voice to testimonies like Judith’s, a surgeon who explained how, in his first years as a professional, a veteran surgeon wiped the sweat from his face on his chest. She froze. When she did it a second time, Judith offered to get her a towel. Her response was “no, this is much more fun.” “I feel dirty, I feel humiliated”dice Judith.

Analysis by the University of Exeter, the University of Surrey and a task force against sexual abuse in operating theaters highlights that many women They fear that reporting abuse could harmr their careers and lack confidence in the NHS to do so.

“You could say that an implicit aspect of be part of the surgical culture “is not drawing attention to sexual misconduct,” the authors point out in their conclusions.

“The workplace of surgeons is especially vulnerable to sexual misconduct, with a predominantly male and senior staff, strong hierarchical structures and high-stress environments,” the study adds.