Sexual Harassment Still Reported by Many European Doctors

A Medscape survey of European doctors has shown that sexual harassment and abusive behaviors continue in the medical workplace despite ongoing efforts to address them. The consequences, according to respondents, include psychological distress, impaired patient care, and even doctors quitting their jobs.

The European Doctors’ Sexual Harassment Report 2025 received responses from 4339 practicing clinicians across six European countries. Significant proportions had experienced or witnessed at least one of a range of unwanted behaviors including sexual comments about anatomy or body parts; leering or sexually looking at body parts; unwanted touching, hugging, or groping; deliberately infringing on body space or standing too close; and persistent direct or indirect propositioning to engage in sexual activity.

Perpetrators Predominantly Male Superiors

Across all six countries, perpetrators were predominantly men and were most likely to be physicians. Nurses were responsible for only about 1 in 10 incidents overall. In around half (42%-61%) the cases, the perpetrator was in a superior position to the person harassed. Around 5%-10% of witnessed harassment incidents included offers of a promotion, raise, or other advantage in exchange for a sexual favor, or threats of punishment for refusal of a sexual favor.

Personal experience of sexual harassment was most common in the United kingdom, where it was reported by 9% of respondents — triple the rate reported in Medscape’s last UK survey in 2019. This is despite the General Medical Council introducing a zero tolerance policy in early 2024, including making clear that such misconduct may be “incompatible with continued registration” as a doctor.

Witnessing harassment of others also doubled in the United Kingdom since 2019, from 4% to 8%, but was most common in Germany, affecting 1 in 7 doctors (14%).

Harassment Taken More Seriously 

Samir Rabbata, head of the Department for Policy and Communication at the German Federal Medical Association, told Medscape Medical News that the organization had called for increased efforts to protect both healthcare workers and patients from sexual harassment at its 122nd assembly in 2019.

The assembly urged all German healthcare facilities to establish operational approaches for dealing with sexual harassment. In line with this, almost half (48%) of German doctors in Medscape’s survey said they felt that workplace sexual harassment had been taken more seriously in the past 5 years.

In Italy, 5% of doctors reported being harassed and 10% had witnessed harassment, but only half of Italian respondents said they felt “not at all knowledgeable” about their workplace’s sexual harassment grievance procedure. Italians were also most likely to have “kept quiet” during incidents of harassment, with 59% reporting that they neither told the perpetrator to stop nor expressed their feelings. A 2021 study of female surgeons in Italy found that sexual harassment was common (59%) but only 10% of women reported it.

France, where intentional sexual harassment is a criminal offence, had the most responding physicians (2%) saying they had been personally accused of harassment compared with 1% of doctors in Germany and the United Kingdom each, and none in Italy, Portugal, or Spain. In addition, 9% of French respondents said they had been propositioned or harassed by a patient, as a result of which 1 in 5 said they had dismissed the patient from their practice.

When harassed, French doctors were the most likely to tell the perpetrator to stop (45%). However, almost one quarter (23%) reported quitting their job following harassment — something that has been noted by French employment tribunals.

In Spain, sexual harassment prevention laws published in 2022 specify that all companies, including healthcare facilities, must promote working conditions that prevent sexual harassment, offer training in sexual violence prevention, and address complaints. Sexual violence must also be included in occupational risk assessments for female workers. Nevertheless, 5% of Spanish doctors reported experiencing harassment and 8% said they had witnessed it.

Evidential Difficulties

Doctors in Portugal fared somewhat better, with the fewest (3%) reporting personal experience of abuse or misconduct, half the rate of French doctors and one third that of doctors in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, 9% said they had witnessed it.

Commenting to Medscape Medical News on behalf of the Portuguese Medical Association, João Redondo, coordinator of the association’s National Office for Medical Support and a psychiatrist, said, “It is important to highlight that this issue tends not to be properly flagged due to the difficulty in gathering evidence, the time institutions take to respond, and the fear of potential victims regarding the consequences of reporting the problem.”

The Portuguese National Office for Medical Support was established in 2019 to support physicians in vulnerable situations and provides training on sexual harassment. In the Medscape survey, Portuguese doctors were particularly likely to disagree that sexually harassing behaviors were tacitly accepted in their workplace, yet least likely (2%) to say their workplace had training and policy in place to tackle harassment. “This suggests a disconnect between the perceived culture of respect and the lack of formal mechanisms to combat sexual harassment effectively,” Redondo said.

Sheena Meredith is an established medical writer, editor, and consultant in healthcare communications, with extensive experience writing for medical professionals and the general public. She is qualified in medicine and in law and medical ethics.