Almost one in three female surgeons in the British public health system (NHS) say they have suffered a sexual assault in the last five years, according to a new study. The report, published by the British Journal of Surgery, was prepared from surveys of 1,704 operating room workers (from surgeons to resident doctors), more than half of them women, and produced findings that have led the Royal College of Surgeons to classify it as “very shocking”.

63% of those surveyed indicated that they had suffered some type of sexual misconduct by their colleagues and 29.9% of the surgeons surveyed said they had suffered some type of sexual assault, from touching to rape. Additionally, the study found that one in ten of those workers had experienced some type of “forced physical contact linked to employment opportunities”. Meanwhile, 0.8% of female surgeons say they have been raped by a colleague, both in the workplace and outside of it.

The study gives voice to testimonies such as that of Judith, a surgeon who explained how, in her first years as a professional, a veteran surgeon wiped the sweat from his face on her breasts. When she offered him a towel, He responded that he preferred to do it in her cleavage, “because it’s a lot more fun.”

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

“One could say that an implicit aspect of being part of the surgical culture is not drawing attention to sexual misconduct,” the authors point out in their conclusions. “The surgeons’ workplace is especially vulnerable to sexual misconduct, with a mostly male and veteran staffpowerful hierarchical structures and high-stress environments“adds the study.