A shocking report released today shows dozens of rapes and sexual assaults happen in hospitals. The horrifying scope of abuse is evident by the official statistics, which offer 6,500 attacks in just three years.

The Women's Rights Network provided the numbers today, whose founder Heather Binning claimed they were "just the tip of the iceberg," including gang rapes and assaults on children.

'Hospitals are places where people – patients, staff, and visitors should be completely protected, but rapes and violent assaults are seen to be happening in hospitals every week,' she added.

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'The figures show that hospitals are no longer safe places. They are almost a marketplace for sexual offenders. It's frightening.' She compared the scope of the situation to the Jimmy Savile controversy and his mistreatment of patients at Stoke Mandeville.

Due to freedom of information requests submitted to England and Wales' police forces, the figures were gathered. At least 2,088 rapes and 4,451 sexual assaults—or 33 per week—were reported between January 2019 and October 2022.

The statistics do not specify whether the crimes occurred in for-profit or NHS establishments. A frightening one in seven, nevertheless, happened in hospital wards. Only 4.1 percent of crimes were due to the suspect being charged or given a summons.

Ms. Binning said this 'added to the horror' and demonstrated how hospitals and police forces failed to safeguard the vulnerable. "The police are not doing what seems to be their best regarding recording the crimes properly and pursuing them. She claims these are places with CCTV and restricted access.

What makes the charging rate so low, then? Her WRN group urges the Care Quality Commission, NHS, and the police to recognize this "hidden domain of sexual violence." These statistics, according to Ms. Binning, are unexpected. 

They started looking into this because they were worried about the security of mothers and children in NHS units. We are still appalled by what we have found.

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The severity of sexual assaults and rapes is much worse because this data includes the epidemic when a large portion of the nation was under lockdown, and hospitals were allegedly even more watchful.

The reported offenses included the rape of a little girl below 13 years. Also, the rape of a woman in West Midlands hospitals by "multiple offenders." A child and three young girls both reported being raped in Cambridgeshire facilities. In contrast, six females were allegedly attacked at Lancashire hospitals.

Jo Phoenix, the report's author and professor of criminology at Reading University gave his view on this matter. She said that NHS trusts failed in their duty to protect both patients and staff.

She stated, "It is simply abhorrent that 95.9% of all reports were either not followed up on or were not legally documented as crimes." Even if the study doesn't explain this startlingly low number, there seems to be a general lack of interest in dealing with this safeguarding and policing failure.

Freedom of information requests was sent to 43 police forces by WRN researchers. However, those in Scotland and Northern Ireland and six others could not provide the information.

"The true figures will be significantly higher," Ms. Binning said. Even today, many of these crimes go undetected, and there is a shortage of data.

The WRN demanded that the Home Office issue guidelines to the police so they could paint a more accurate image of the problem. In addition, they claimed that better documentation of crimes committed in healthcare facilities was required.

The paper also advocated abolishing rules requiring medical wards to accept transgender patients "according to their presentation." Instead, according to the declaration, single-sex exemptions for hospital wards are necessary "to ensure that women and girls, in particular, are adequately protected." 

Among the other recommendations are clear guidelines for allegation recording and reporting. The NHS and private facilities are also encouraged to review their safety procedures. Ms. Binning said, "This is serious, it won't go away, and if we don't get a handle on it, it will only worsen." 

We thought the days of someone like Jimmy Savile freely entering a hospital and wandering the wards were long gone. But sadly, this has echoes of it as well.

According to a spokeswoman for NHS England, the statistics are "unacceptable." 

"Anyone who has encountered any misconduct or violence should come forward and report it, and all NHS Trusts and organizations must ensure rigorous systems are in place to guarantee that immediate action is taken in all cases reported to them," the advice that followed the declaration read.