Becoming inappropriate is sadly a very common symptom of dementia, they are not thinking to themselves ' great, I can cop a feel and get away with it' any carer will have been trained in how to deal with this
That's the thing though, by and large we're not trained to deal with this type of behaviour, nor supported through it. It's seen as part of the job so just get on with it. It costs money to do that, money no one wants to part with.
It doesn't hurt any less when someone who has dementia belts you in the face than if someone without dementia does it, it doesn't cause less injury, you don't bleed less.
I personally find the verbal/sexual side easier to deal with because I am aware that it's the disease talking and not necessarily the person. I can measure my response and tailor accordingly. I haven't been trained to do that though, anywhere I've worked. Oh I've attended the 'challenging' behaviour workshops that tell me actually, it's probably my fault for not meeting their care needs, but don't actually tell me how to get a person who has soiled themselves, doesn't realise and fights tooth and nail when I attempt to clean them up, to do so calmly so I can meet their care needs. It also doesn't tell me how to be able to spend an hour or more talking someone round to recieving care, or putting their clothes on today, or eating their meal whilst also providing care to the rest of the residents too, because I can't defy the laws of physics.
There's no excuse to abuse vulnerable people, however we need to make sure that the carers have the training, tools and equipment (and there are enough of them) to be able to deliver care properly, in an unrushed and sensitive manner, rather than the way it is now.
Society gets up in arms about stuff like this, rarely are they interested in looking a little deeper to find out the systematic failures that lead to it happening.