Project Updates
Autumn Update (September 2025)
Through 2025, we have been working on data collection stages 2, 3 and 4 of the project. As a reminder, these stages are:
Stage 2. Regulatory and case data:
This involves engaging with UK professional regulators to build retrospective datasets of fitness-to-practice cases and other data related to how sexual misconduct cases are identified and managed within professional organisations. We are also pulling together data already in the public domain.
Stage 3. Interviews:
We are interviewing: (1) staff working for regulators, tribunals and professional bodies or staff supporting anyone involved in a disciplinary process; (2) individuals who act as legal counsel in such cases; and (3) journalists who report on sexual misconduct, particularly for ‘trade’ journals or investigative outlets. For those who prefer to talk in a non-research interview format, we are arranging an ordinary meeting and taking hand-written notes, which we can use to inform our thinking, but will not quote directly.
Stage 4. Survey:
We are surveying individuals who have been victims or witnesses to sexual misconduct, violence or abuse perpetrated by professionals. While the focus of this project is on perpetrators and institutional processes, the voices of those who have experienced and witnessed abuse are central to understanding whether and how justice processes work in practice. This anonymous online survey is open until mid-2026.
Tracking our data collection
To help us understand where we are with data collection, and to be transparent about our ongoing progress on the project, Nate and Emma have developed a data collection tracker (see below). Interviews and regulatory and case data collection will continue through to Spring 2026, so you will start to see an increase overall and a more even distribution between professions. We will begin analysis concurrent to the data collection, from Autumn 2025.
Data Collection Tracker
Autumn Update (October 2024)
Summary of Existing Literature
Through May to July 2024, we conducted an extensive review of published literature and used our five project research questions to analyse and represent that existing evidence base.
Over the summer, we spent time discussing the literature together and we will continue to add to, and draw on this Stage 1 foundation, as a resource throughout the project. We have now distilled this work into 2-page open access briefings for each profession:
You can also compare and contrast the findings using our Interactive literature summary tool here.
Analysis of Existing Methods
In addition to synthesising the literature, the team also recorded the methods and sources used to investigate sexual misconduct for each profession. Method type and data source type were inductively categorised so that we could compare the methodological design of existing studies by profession.
Overall, we found that the literature on doctors, judges, and lawyers employed similar methods to understand sexual misconduct: namely, document analysis and commentary. Studies on psychiatrists and religious leaders are predominantly theoretical papers and/or commentary. Research on the military, police and politicians tends to utilise surveys and interviews.
Reflecting on the different methodological designs, we recognise how the accessibility of different professions and professional institutions (operating within different gatekeeper frameworks) may limit the ability of researchers to use people-based methods. For this reason, researchers may rely on investigative/document-based approaches or theoretical analysis and commentary. Research depends also on the extent to which regulators and professional groups collect, store and publish data, and at what level of granularity.
Explore methods using our dashboard here.
Summer Update (May 2024)
The project commenced on 1 November 2023 and runs until end of October 2028.
In January 2024, ethical approval for the project was received from a University of Bristol ethics committee.
Through December 2023 and January 2024, research posts were advertised for the project and I am very happy to welcome Hannah Richards, Emma Yapp and Nathan Birdsall, who joined over May 2024 (see Meet the Team). Each bring expertise in gender based violence, in professions related to the project, and in a wide range of methods.
As a team, we have started work on Stage 1. This involves synthesising the available international evidence on professional sexual misconduct in relation to the research questions (see About the Project). We have split the work according to our existing experience, so: Hannah is leading on the military and the legal profession; Emma on doctors and psychiatry; Natasha on religious leaders and politicians; and Nate on policing and on drawing together methodological insights from across the field. We are also mapping the regulatory terrain and identifying key contacts and organisations.
As a team, we will share our work with each other in July 2024, and start to identify points of connection and difference between the professions. We are going to use this groundwork to shape our data collection instruments. We then plan to go out to data holders from late 2024.