It's exhausting coming to work, dealing with inappropriate behavior and sexual comments.

I think they thought that because they were in a green uniform, they could get away with it, that they were untouchable.

They joined the ambulance service because they wanted to help people, but found a culture plagued by misogyny and sexual harassment. Freya says she put up with it for years until one day a colleague locked her in the back of an ambulance and sexually assaulted her.

He just put his hand straight down my top. I was like, Yeah, in shock. I couldn't move. I didn't know how to react. I just froze. And if that wasn't enough, he then took my breast out and put my breast in his mouth. He took his pen like a felt-tip pen, and he drew a smiley face above and below my nipple. I just remember going into the station immediately when we got back, and I washed and scrubbed myself and got rid of the ink. And he took a photo of it as well.

The trauma led Freya to try to amputate her breast and attempt to take her own life. She's received compensation from the Trust and no longer works as a paramedic.

I have scars, mentally and physically, and I had the career I so loved stolen from me. I'm lonely. I'm on my own because I can't trust anyone.

This was the paramedic epilips that I had when I first was a paramedic, which I was really proud of. This is my epilips from when I was the operations manager.

Carol King was in charge of 130 members of staff in the southwest of England, but she left after raising complaints about harassment and bullying that she says went unresolved.

You I'm always afraid of saying anything to anybody who is more senior because you always think you're going to get reprisals, possibly that you won't get another job, you won't be able to move up the career ladder. That's the biggest thing. I don't think that's how I always felt years ago, but I still think that happens now.

If a young woman came to you today and said, I'd like to be a paramedic, I'd like to join the ambulance service, what would you say to her?

Don't do it. Don't do it.

Why?

Well, if I had a daughter, I wouldn't let them. I just think there's too many predators in there waiting for some young girl to go in there.

Southwestern Ambulance Service says it doesn't tolerate behavior that goes against its values and encourages victims to speak up. In recent years, women have been sharing their stories. The College of Paramedics launched an investigation and support program after hearing from students about the sexual harassment they suffered while on placements.

We have found that our female student council members are experiencing misogyny and sexual harassment, if not on a daily, on a weekly basis, by a minority of people who just feel that that behavior is acceptable.

Tracey Nichols is particularly concerned about students feeling pressured into relationships or even sexual acts in order to progress.

Sometimes it's perceived as banter, but immediately there's a power imbalance there for that student. Sometimes progresses to a really difficult space where I won't sign you off until maybe you come out for a date with me, or I won't sign you off until you send me a picture of yourself.

Laura is a newly qualified paramedic and says it's common for older male mentors to begin relationships with much younger students.

Very often, the stories I've heard of mentors who have wives and kids at home are almost preying on these students who don't think they know any better. The student goes into it and thinks, This is a person who's got respect. They look up to these paramedics, and the mental will play on that and will take advantage of the power that they have.

She says female paramedics are forced to put up with sexualizing comments disguised as banter.

It's awful. I actually look forward to the winter months where it's colder, where I can wear my jacket more often so that I'm more covered up. We've got the same uniform. We've got a standardized unisex uniform, and I shouldn't have to feel like I'm being objectified and looked up and down by my colleagues, but that is the case.

An NHS spokesperson said any form of sexual misconduct is completely unacceptable, and that every ambulance trust in England has committed to a plan which commits to improving sexual safety. A number of culture reports in recent years have highlighted the open secret of sexual harassment, blaming the male dominated nature of such a hierarchical work structure. But victims want that secret to now be fully understood and finally dealt with. Rachel Venables, Sky News.