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Anonymous ID: 1a546a Dec. 13, 2022, 8:20 p.m. No.17938947   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>9029 >>9250 >>9458 >>9540 >>9554 >>9603

Notable

 

"The NHS should “urgently investigate” after Byline Times uncovered “disturbing” figures showing that more than 4,000 patients, visitors and NHS staff were raped or sexually assaulted in hospitals over the past four years, the Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary has said.

 

An investigation by this newspaper has shockingly unearthed that 4,100 patients, visitors and NHS staff were raped (1,364) or sexually assaulted (at least 2,744) in a hospital setting between January 2019 and September 2022 – with 633 raped or assaulted while on a hospital ward. At least three of the incidents were against a female child aged under 13.

 

Data from 31 police forces in England and Wales based on reported rapes and assaults revealed the scale of sexual violence within hospital settings, with victims including patients and staff members.

 

Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting told Byline Times: “Hospitals ought to be safe places for patients and staff, but these disturbing findings show that is not the case for far too many people. The NHS should urgently investigate why these disgusting crimes are allowed to happen and on such a widespread scale.”

 

His comments were echoed by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on health, Daisy Cooper, who said the “horrifying” figures “demand an urgent and comprehensive response” from the Government. She added: “Hospitals should be safe havens for vulnerable patients, visitors and staff and not somewhere where such abhorrent attacks can ever take place.”

 

The worrying findings come as Paul Grayson was jailed for 16 years this summer, after being found guilty of filming up the hospital gowns of unconscious patients, as well as recording four female nurses and a support worker while they used the bathroom.

 

Of the reported allegations, 5.21% resulted in a charge or summons.

 

One police force, which recorded 161 sexual assault and rapes across hospital estates, shared with Byline Times the reasons why charges were never brought following a reported sexual assault. Concerningly, in 26 rapes and 11 sexual assaults, no suspect was able to be identified.

 

Although most police forces did not provide data on the sex of perpetrators and victims, women are overwhelmingly likely to be the victims of sexual assault, with men most likely to be suspects. Women made up 87.1% of alleged victims in North Wales, and 88% of reports to West Mercia were made by women.

 

CEO of nia – a charity that supports women victims of men’s violence – and author of Defending Women’s Spaces Karen Ingala Smith told Byline Times: “It’s one thing looking at a number of examples of abuse and recognising that there is potentially a wider a problem for women’s safety. It’s quite another to see data making clear the extent of that problem and the sexual violence to which women are subjected.”

 

Navina Evans, chief workforce officer at NHS England, told Byline Times that “we take all complaints very seriously” and “I would strongly encourage anyone who has concerns about any form of sexual assault while on an NHS site to come forward, report it and seek support”.

 

https://bylinetimes.com/2022/11/28/nhs-must-urgently-investigate-byline-times-disturbing-figures-on-rape-and-sex-assault-in-hospitals-says-shadow-health-secretary/