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Abstract
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A new investigation by The BMJ and the Guardian provides further evidence of the prevalence of serious sexual violation and assaults in the UK’s NHS.1 The investigation offers some explanation of why sexual harassment and abuse remain enduring concerns, finding a lack of sexual safety policies in many organisations and failures to record and then investigate such cases. Collecting and recording data are central to organisational understanding of these phenomena.2 The investigation highlights failures to take sexual violence seriously and to value gaining a more sophisticated understanding of three distinct sanction mechanisms—self, social, and legal sanctions—that are required to reduce these violations in workplaces and society.
Sexual harassment and abuse do not occur in isolation. Our research has associated these behaviours with workplaces that are already hotspots for bullying and harassment from both patients and staff.3 Perpetrators exhibit aggressive, goal directed behaviours for their own satisfaction and to enhance their feelings of power and control, with little or no regard for their targets.4 Research shows that this behaviour is habitual—once started, it is difficult for the individual to self-reflect and control it.567 Perpetrators often test how others react to their transgressive activities and whether their behaviour is tolerated in that environment. They use cognitive reframing and behavioural strategies to overcome their inhibitions, denying or downplaying the consequences of their behaviours.89
Perpetrators select locations for privacy and access to suitable targets—especially people who are vulnerable, powerless, or might be considered unreliable witnesses. Jimmy Savile’s crimes showed the vulnerabilities of healthcare workplaces and the attraction for abusers10—people can move around largely unchallenged by both staff and the visiting public.
Perpetrators are found to use specific career choices such as agency or locum work to improve their access to targets.10 Some workplaces, notably mental health facilities, are hotspots for perpetrators as they are the location of a wide range of professions including psychiatry, nursing, and psychology staff.111213 There are also issues with family medicine14 and obstetrics and gynaecology,15 although these vary by profession and access. Focusing on such locations to ensure data are gathered is valuable, especially as the investigation indicates that data collection is inconsistent ...
Language: en |