Psychiatrists themselves have reported that 65% of their new patients inform them of previous psychiatrists who have sexually abused them, which includes both women and men.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) International has launched a grass roots petition for the introduction of laws to prosecute sexual harassment and assault of mental health patients.
CCHR, a non-profit mental health watchdog dedicated to investigating and exposing abusive psychiatric practices created the petition in support of the call for better patient protection laws in light of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The recent #MeToo movement has saturated the media with often suppressed sexual assault incidents, yet no field is more overlooked than psychiatry when it comes to sex crimes. In fact, 60% of psychiatrists and psychologists sexually abuse their patients, including children as young as 3 years old. Moreover, these sexual crimes are estimated at 37 times greater than rapes occurring in the general community, with an estimate that psychiatrists and psychologists have assaulted more than 150,000 female patients alone. [1]
“Hard statistics demonstrate the need for action,” said Ms. Diane Stein, CCHR President.
“CCHR’s petition calls for the introduction of laws which would prosecute sexual harassment and assault of mental health patients”, said Ms. Stein.
A mental health survey has reported that 65% of new patients report previous psychiatrists who have sexually abused them, both male and female. [2] In a recent U.S. survey of patient-practitioner sex, 73% of psychiatrists who admitted sexual contact with patients cited "love" or “pleasure,” while 19% said it was for " patient self-esteem,” "restitutive emotional experience," or a "judgment lapse”.[3]
For these reasons CCHR Florida is actively supporting the current call for legislation to protect mental health patients who suffer practitioner abuse. In parallel with the #MeToo movement, it has encouraged all such victims to speak out now with their stories. “This is the perfect time to do so,” said Ms. Stein. “It will help enormously in bringing much-needed legal regulation into existence.”
If you or someone you know have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of any mental health practitioner, please call CCHR Florida at 727-442-8820, or visit www.cchrflorida.org/report-psychiatric-abuse. To join the call for legislation to protect mental health patients from sexual abuse please sign the petition.
About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health.’”
Sources:
[1] Kenneth S. Pope, “Therapist-Patient Sex as Sex Abuse: Six Scientific, Professional, and Practical Dilemmas in Addressing Victimization and Rehabilitation,” https://kspope.com/sexiss/therapy1.php
[2] “Doctor Sexual Assault Cases: Capable Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawyers Fight for Justice,” https://www.beasleyfirm.com/medical-malpractice/doctor-sexual-assault/
[3] Nanette Gartrell, M.D., Judith Herman, M.D., et al., "Psychiatrist-Patient Sexual Contact: Results of a National Survey, I: Prevalence," American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 143 No. 9, Sept. 1986, p. 1128.
