We should have considered raising a safeguarding alert

[Mandodari]

I have no words.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/04/gaia-pope-sexually-harassed-while-on-psychiatric-ward-inquest-jury-told

That poor poor girl. I don't know what to say.

Gaia "informed staff that a male patient on the ward at St Ann’s hospital in Poole made explicit sexual comments and suggestions and tried to hug her but jurors were told that no safeguarding referral was made.
Dr Dinesh Kannan, a consultant psychiatrist who assessed Pope on the Seaview Ward, described what happened to the teenager there as a “peril of the mixed ward” but admitted a referral should have been made."

That assault in a hospital is dismissed merely as a 'peril' is maddening, male violence is so accepted and engrained in our society that this event is a trifle, collateral damage, not to be bothered about or solved.

We say her name. Gaia.

This is entirely normal for psychiatric wards, unfortunately.

Goodness, she was let down by too many people. It must have been horrific for her to be subject to sexual harassment whilst in a secure psych ward. Why aren't men who do these things removed immediately?? (I know the answer will be to do with cost, space combined with not caring enough about women).

Bloody hell.

Wtf are there any mixed wards still, let alone psychiatric wards? It seems so bleeding obvious that this maximises the probability of women (and girls) who have been traumatised by men being further victimised by men with various issues.

Poor girl.

Why aren't men who do these things removed immediately??

"Because they're unwell too and you need to be more understanding."

A friend of mine was on a mixed psychiatric ward a while ago. I can't say it felt like a safe place or conducive to getting well.

The only reason this is news is because she died afterwards. Sexual comments and requests for hugs and things that go further are everyday common occurrences for women on psychiatric wards.

So first someone drugged and raped her.
The police were unable to charge him.
She suffered PTSD and epilepsy.
She had a crisis on realising that her attacker was loose.
Was hospitalised, and assaulted by a fellow patient- nothing was done.

Poor, poor child.

there should not be mixed wards for these settings.
in the old days all mental hosp wards were strictly segregated, often in different buildings. for those moving towards reintegration there were supervised disco evenings in the social centre. but of course that was only for those who wished to attend.
and those were meant to be the bad old days. as usual, the whole picture is much more complex. not everything is better now.

Oh, Gaia. I'm so very, very sorry.

My thoughts with her family.

A 'peril of the mixed ward' FFS. So have single-sex wards. Especially for (alleged) rape victims with PTSD. It's not exactly rocket science.

I remember day after day the news of search for her, poor girl. She didn't deserve any of this.

So many people are let down by psychiatric ‘care’, it’s unfit for purpose. I’ve had those type of situations on psychiatric wards, and didn’t even mention it to staff, I just didn’t feel there was any point, it wouldn’t change anything. Women shouldn’t feel like that.

That poor young woman, badly let down.

Absolutely shocking that psychiatric wards are mixed sex.

I wonder if the guardian could have got the word alleged into that article any more times?

She was killed by all of those men - her rapist, her abuser and her doctors.

My heart goes out to Gaia and her family.

“Peril of a mixed ward”

WTAF??

Poor, poor young woman. Failed by everyone.

I too have had these experiences in mixed psychiatric wards (as well as being blamed by staff for my own harassment). It's one reason why I would fight tooth and nail against my own dds ever being admitted to one.

Poor Gaia.

There should be no mixed sex wards of any kind, in mental or in normal hospitals. Women can’t recover while being harassed or - and this is so crucial - while fearing harassment/ assault.

Women know that ‘not all men’ are like this, but women also know that many men are like this, and that they don’t have special badges on to say which type of man they are. Women are therefore unable to fully relax and recover their health while in a vulnerable state in a confined space with men.

Everyone knows this. But the world is run by men and set up to benefit men. I’ve noticed that the few women who do find themselves in positions of power, tend to have led safe lives of huge privilege and have no idea of the level of harassment and fear that the average woman experiences over her lifetime.

@FrancescaContini
Such a flippant turn of phrase for something so seriously. All they were short of doing is following it up with hey ho, themselves the breaks. How a HCP could be so dismissive is beyond me.

Yes

Hey ho, could be worse, eh??

I despair after reading the article. It’s horrifying. The poor poor young woman.

It is utterly appalling that secure psych wards are mixed sex. How are women supposed to recover in those circumstances?

They’re not all mixed sex. In my area they have single sex wards, but there are communal areas (e.g. courtyard where people could sit to smoke) where people from different wards mixed. I was once admitted to a men’s ward, because there were no beds in a women’s ward available.

Poor Gaia

There need to be employment consequences for staff that allow this to happen and the Psychiatrist who minimised what happened. Financial or employment consequences. There needs to be civil litigation. I would donate to this.

This would be the way to get single sex wards introduced pretty fucking fast, I imagine.

There also should be a ban on putting women and girls whose psychiatric problems stem from male violence on mixed sex wards. What's the point? It's going to do more harm than good even if they don't get sexually assaulted or raped again.

THIS IS WHY WE NEED SINGLE SEX SPACES. (sorry to shout, I'm so angry).

In my area, psych wards tend to have "single sex accommodation". In practice, that means that the men's bedrooms and hygiene facilities are on a different corridor of the ward from the women's bedrooms and hygiene facilities, and that there's a separate dayroom only women patients are meant to be able to use (in my experience, it doesn't get used much).

All the rest of the ward is shared space — main dayroom, dining area, any recreation or therapy facilities like the gym or occupational therapy areas, any outdoor spaces, and so on. Patients are generally encouraged not to spend much time in their bedrooms so in effect it's an entirely mixed-sex environment, with mobile, active patients who may be experiencing difficulty controlling their behaviour.

God what an awful story. Rest In Peace Gaia. I feel absolute rage that women have been so let down. There but for the grace of God go any of us.