Exclusive: Internal report at nurses’ union finds male-dominated governing body ‘not fit for purpose’
A damning inquiry into the Royal College of Nursing, the world’s biggest nurses’ union, has exposed bullying, misogyny and a sexual culture where women are at risk of “alcohol and power-related exploitation”.
A 77-page internal report by Bruce Carr KC, leaked to the Guardian, lays bare how the RCN’s senior leadership has been “riddled with division, dysfunction and distrust” and condemns the male-dominated governing body, known as council, as “not fit for purpose”.
That it is “clear that congress is seen by many as an opportunity to engage in sexual activity, which will carry with it a substantial risk that a line will be crossed so as to become exploitative … All the more so where there is a power imbalance between the individuals involved and all the more so where large amounts of alcohol are consumed”.
There is a “culture in which the ‘congress wife’ (or husband) is a term in common usage and is reflective of a prevalence of extramarital sexual relationships”, which encourages others to expect “to have the opportunity [to] engage in similar behaviour”.
An elected official informed him that people’s “moral compass” would fall away at conference. The individual said he had been “approached in a way by females, over a few years, and basically – how can I put it – offering it to you on a plate, if you like: it’s there for you, because they perceive you as having power”.
A council member told Carr that on joining the body they had been told that “students need to be on their guard really and are quite vulnerable and I can see what they meant by it”. A second said there was “abuse, grooming, preying” in a “boozy sexualised culture”.
Outside conference, Carr says he has also heard allegations of sexual harassment in the RCN and that “they do to some extent support the impression that there is a culture of some senior individuals seeking to take advantage of subordinates and engaging in unwanted sexual behaviours”.
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