Making Invisible Violence Visible
A curated database documenting cases of sexualized violence and assault by medical professionals worldwide. What you see is 1% of the known cases. Beyond lies an astronomical dark figure.
Enter Archive Understand the DataThe Filtering Effect: From Incident to Public Record
Not all violence becomes data. Every step in the justice system filters cases out of visibility. Below is the journey from incident to public archive.
From incident to archive (illustrative funnel)
- Estimated Cases: 1,000
- Reports Filed: 100
- Investigations: 30
- Court Cases: 10
- Convictions: 3
- Published in Archive: 1
Why the numbers drop
Reporting Gap: Most victims never report. Trauma, fear of disbelief, power imbalances, and institutional protection silence survivors.
Investigation Gap: Not all reports trigger formal investigations. Medical licensing boards may handle cases internally without criminal proceedings.
Prosecution Gap: Many investigations close without charges. Cases become "he said, she said". Settlements occur out of court. Professional discipline replaces criminal justice.
Publication Gap: In Germany, only 1% of all court verdicts are published—anonymized and without perpetrator identification. Most cases vanish into institutional shadows.
What you see here: A curated fragment of that 1%. This archive represents the smallest visible slice of an astronomical dark figure.
Why this matters
- 99% Unreported or Unknown Cases
- 1% Of Verdicts Ever Published
- 0.1% With Perpetrator Identifiable
Understanding the Archive
♞ What This Archive Contains
This is a curated database of documented cases where medical professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists, and others in positions of medical authority) have been credibly accused or convicted of sexual assault, harassment, or abuse against patients or colleagues.
Cases are sourced from:
- Public court verdicts and legal documents
- News reports and investigative journalism
- Professional regulatory findings
- Academic and epidemiological sources
- Survivor testimonies and documented reports
♞ What This Archive Does NOT Contain
- Allegations without evidence: Cases must have credible documentation (court records, journalistic investigation, institutional findings)
- Unverified anecdotes: Personal accounts alone are not indexed without corroborating sources
- Complete representation: The vast majority of cases never reach public record. This is an incomplete window into an invisible landscape
- Naming decisions: Perpetrators are identified where public record permits. Many cases remain anonymized per data protection laws
♞ The Dark Figure of Crime
In criminology, the "dark figure of crime" refers to offenses that are never reported to authorities. For sexual violence in medical settings, research suggests the dark figure is catastrophically large:
- Only 1–5% of sexual assault survivors file formal reports
- Power imbalances in medical settings amplify underreporting—patients depend on their abuser for treatment
- Institutional silence: Medical boards and hospitals often prioritize reputation over investigation
- Data protection laws can paradoxically shield perpetrators from identification in public record
This archive makes visible what should not be invisible. It is, simultaneously, an incomplete window into an enormous problem.
♞ How to Use This Archive
This is not a source to "learn a story." It is a research and investigation tool. You decide what patterns matter:
- Filter by profession: Are nurses perpetrators at different rates than physicians?
- Filter by geography: Which countries have better accountability? Which hide cases more effectively?
- Filter by outcome: How often do perpetrators serve time? How often are they simply transferred?
- Identify gaps: Entire regions with zero recorded cases—absence of data ≠ absence of crime
The archive does not tell you what to think. Your interaction with it reveals patterns that institutions prefer to conceal.
♞ Data Quality & Limitations
Every case in this archive comes with documented sources. However, understand:
- Publication bias: Cases that make headlines are overrepresented. Quiet, institutional cases are rare in public record
- Geographic bias: Countries with free press and digital record-keeping show more cases than authoritarian or developing regions. This reflects visibility, not actual prevalence
- Time bias: Older cases are less likely to be digitized. Apparent trends may reflect digitization patterns, not actual crime patterns
- Anonymization: Many cases cannot be fully identified due to data protection—this limits verification but protects survivors
About Philogyny Archive
Philogyny (from ancient Greek: "love of woman") is a project born from a simple observation: violence against women and gender minorities in medical settings is both epidemic and invisible.
Medical professionals hold enormous power. They have authorized access to vulnerable bodies. They dispense drugs. They are trusted implicitly. When that trust is weaponized, the consequences are profound—and largely hidden.
This archive began as a personal investigation. Over years, case after case accumulated—gynecologists, anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, nurses, physiotherapists. Each story anonymized. Each perpetrator faceless in legal documents. Each victim redacted for privacy. The pattern became undeniable, yet remained institutionally invisible.
Awareness requires visibility. Visibility requires data. Data requires curation, verification, and presentation in a way that speaks without preaching.
This archive exists to make that pattern visible. Not to shame victims. Not to condemn entire professions. But to ask difficult questions: Why is this never discussed? Who benefits from this silence? What structures enable perpetrators? How do we shift the invisible into the visible?
This is not therapy. This is not activism. This is not journalism. It is investigation. And you are invited to investigate with us.
Ready to Explore?
Enter the archive and see what institutional silence has hidden.
Enter Archive