Survivor Stories
While statistics can be shocking, they do not have the impact to change people’s minds or make them care as much as hearing real stories of patient sexual abuse or sexual misconduct by practitioners and the lifelong effects on patient victims and survivors afterwards.
The aim of this project is to create an archive of experiences from victims and survivors in order to help them gain control of their own narrative, thus empowering them through their own ability to speak out.
Pat's Story
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During a medical examination, a doctor touched and groped him inappropriately as a child.
This caused feelings of confusion after leaving the appointment. Some people asked, ‘why didn’t you call out?’ But he states, “you couldn’t call out, I couldn’t call out.” He said, “you just kind of freeze; you go to this distant place and hope that it’ll go away.“
What he experienced greatly impacted his life, turning to solvent and alcohol abuse at a young age and suffering from mental health issues later in life.
He said he’d been through a “battle of emotion“, and said he contemplated suicide at times because he was so upset by what had happened to him. He says his relationships were also impacted.
He described the fact that the abuse happened in a place where he was supposed to be safe as his “biggest anger and frustration“, and that it had taken so long to get to this day.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this account, you can contact Dignity4Patients, our helpline is open Monday to Thursday, 10am to 4pm.
