Female doctors vulnerable to sexual assault due to hospital work environments, expert says

Female doctors have spoken of relocating to rural hospital environments where they had little support and lived in hospital accommodation, a researcher says. Photograph: Lynne Cameron/PA

Female doctors who have experienced sexual assault have spoken of work conditions they felt made them more vulnerable to harm from senior colleagues, an Australian researcher says.

“[They described] the enforced closeness that can occur in long sessions in operating theatres,” said Dr Louise Stone, an associate professor at the Australian National University.