Home / Health / NHS Sexual Safety Charter Fails Staff: Calls Surge
NHS Sexual Safety Charter Fails Staff: Calls Surge
18 Jan
Summary
- NHS sexual safety charter launched in September 2023 has not improved staff safety.
- Calls to Rights of Women's advice line from NHS staff have significantly increased.
- Discrepancy exists between reported incidents and staff-reported sexual harm experiences.
A key strategy aimed at improving sexual safety for NHS staff in England has been found to be ineffective, with organizations reporting a rise in harassment cases. The NHS sexual safety charter, launched in September 2023, was intended to enhance how hospitals and other NHS bodies address sexual harassment.
However, the charity Rights of Women reports a significant increase in calls from NHS staff since the charter's rollout, with the proportion of their callers working in the NHS doubling between 2023 and 2025. This suggests that sexual harassment within NHS trusts is a systemic problem that the charter has not resolved.
Despite all NHS organizations in England signing the charter and committing to a zero-tolerance approach, investigations reveal that many trusts continue to report improbably low numbers of staff-on-staff sexual harm incidents. This starkly contrasts with the NHS staff survey, where 3.7% of employees reported being targets of unwanted sexual behavior from colleagues in 2024.
