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Practitioner Safety

Looking at therapists' experience of sexual harassment.

In the light of the BBC documentary  (BBC Sounds) looking at dangers to the public from rogue massage therapists we wanted to ask the question the other way around. What risks do we face as therapists working 1-1. What is your experience of unwanted advances, threats or harm?

These responses will be used anonymously to produce a paper documenting our experiences and to look at what practical measures we could put in place to help. If you do not want us to use your comments please state that in your comments. The survey is anonymous so no names will ever be attached to comments or experiences.

Thank you for helping us build a picture so that we can begin to look at any potential solutions.

TRIGGER WARNING: some of these questions ask about experiences that may have been traumatic, please feel free to pass on questions that could upset and please reach out if you need support.

At the end we ask for demographic data purely to help with the analysis.

By completing this survey you confirm that you are professionally qualified to work in this business.
1.In what setting is your business based? If mixed please add details in the box below.
2.Which modality (or modalities) do you mainly work in.
3.Do you work solo or with other practitioners
4.If you work for an agency or third party employer, do you feel their safeguarding policies and procedures are sufficient?
5.Do potential clients calling, emailing or contacting by other means ask if you provide sexual services? If so, how often does this happen?
6.Do you 'vet' your clients before you meet them for a treatment?
7.If you do vet clients prior to an appointment, how is this done. Please select all relevant options.
8.Have you experienced any of the following in your practice?
9.If you answered yes to clients asking for sexual services or extras, how often does this happen?
10.If you answered yes to clients making inappropriate sexual jokes or comments during a treatment, how often does this happen?
11.If you answered yes to clients commenting on you or your treatment in a sexual way, how often does this happen?
12.If you answered yes to clients refusing to pay for their treatment when you have refused sexual services, how often has this happened and what happened? Please add details in the comments box below or add n/a if not application.
13.If you said yes to clients touching or grabbing you during a treatment please into the comments box how often this has happened and detail how you dealt with it. Please type n/a if not application.
14.If you answered yes to being sexual harassed during a treatment please let us know what happened in the comments box. You can ignore this question if it is too upsetting to answer. Please type n/a if not application.
15.If you answered yes to the question as to if you have ever been sexually assaulted in the course of your work please tell us as much as you are comfortably able to. Please also let us know if you were able to press charges and the reason for this answer or please type n/a if not application.
16.How do you think our industry could be made safer for those working within it? 
17.What personal measures do you take to protect yourself while working?
18.Is there anything more that the industry (for example: Schools, Insurers, Professional Associations) could do to address this issue?
19.Would a 'safe working' logo that specifies 'no sexual services' be useful in your practice?
20.Which age bracket do you fit into?
21.Which country do you live in?
22.If you live and work in the UK, which area are you in?
23.Are you
24.What is your ethnic group?
25.How many years have you been working as a therapist?