Violence against psychiatry staff often ends up unpunished, and employees also rarely press charges after being attacked by a patient, according to a study by the Vrije Universiteit. "In practice, the patient has license to use violence against staff", researcher Joke Harte said to the Volkskrant.
Annually between 30 and 40 percent of employees in psychiatric institutions are victims of physical violence from patients, according to the study. According to Harte, this goes further than employees getting a few punches when they have to transfer patients to separate rooms.
