Trainees are being abused by senior male surgeons, a major analysis given to the BBC reveals.

Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape have been referred to as surgery’s open secret.

There is an untold story of women being fondled inside their scrubs, of male surgeons wiping their brow on their breasts and men rubbing erections against female staff. Some have been offered career opportunities for sex.

The analysis - by the University of Exeter, the University of Surrey and the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct in Surgery - has been shared exclusively with BBC News.

Nearly two-thirds of women surgeons that responded to the researchers said they had been the target of sexual harassment and a third had been sexually assaulted by colleagues in the past five years.

Women say they fear reporting incidents will damage their careers and they lack confidence the NHS will take action.

  • @[email protected]
    12•1 year ago

    That’s a fundamental misunderstanding of scientific/mathematical language used in statistical studies.

    • @Syrc
      2•1 year ago

      Considering the title of the study is “Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights”, I feel like the stress on the ratio is intentional.

      • @[email protected]
        1•1 year ago

        I wonder if you also write this, but with genders reversed, under every report and article about “lonely men” or “men dying by suicide”.

        • @Syrc
          0•1 year ago

          Link me one article about men’s problems with depression that dismisses women’s problems like this one does and I can tell you my opinion.

            • @Syrc
              0•1 year ago

              That’s not even an article. That’s a support page, in a support site, under the “men” section. Obviously they don’t mention women, like in support pages for women they don’t mention men.

              And I’m not that great at using Kbin, but it seems to me the most upvoted article on that community is this one. From that article:

              Furthermore, the absence of male teachers in early education can perpetuate gender stereotypes and suggest that caregiving is a women’s job.

              In order to achieve gender equality, the researchers said, it is necessary to ensure that women have equal opportunities in traditionally male-dominated fields such as STEM while also creating opportunities for men to work in historically feminine/HEED positions.

              That seems like pretty supportive for an article that should be on the same level of one that states “male and female surgeons live different realities” in the face of 1/4th of them having reported sexual harassment.