Bill should cover drunken sexual assault of emergency workers | Letters

Chris Bryant’s private member’s bill does not offer any additional protection against sexual assault on emergency staff, say leading health bodies and members of Alcohol Health Alliance UK

As leading health bodies and members of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, we write insupport of Chris Bryant’s private member’s bill on assaults on emergency workers, and specifically his amendment to extend this bill to cover sexual assault. The bill will already make offences, including malicious wounding and grievous or actual bodily harm, aggravated when perpetrated against emergency workers. But it does not offer any additional protection against sexual assault. This is a discrepancy that cannot stand.

Research from the Institute of Alcohol Studies shows that between a third and a half of service people have experienced sexual harassment or abuse at the hands of intoxicated members of the public: over half (52%) of ambulance service workers reported that they had been the victim of intoxicated sexual harassment or assault, as did 41% of police staff, 35% of emergency department consultants and 34% of fire and rescue staff.

Continue reading... April 24, 2018 at 10:44PM