If you have an issue, the onus is on the institution to fix the problem. It doesn't matter if you're part of a lab or not, your advisor has a boss, and your university should have a support network. If it doesn't, then strongly consider going somewhere else. It also totally depends on you. I understand that in the past a lot of people clashed with my PhD supervisor, but I never had any issues as a student (and we got on well).

What you need to ask is: does the instutition side with the academic in cases of misconduct (e.g. inappropriate behaviour?), or do they side with the student? Do they have a robust pastoral program? Would the students say that they feel supported?

I can categorically say there are awful advisors in all institutions.

A friend got a position in Cambridge. While their advisor was on vacation my friend - innocently - set up a group Slack. When the advisor returned, friend was accused of trying to steal the group. It was a bizarre situation.

I know people at less well-known universities with more mundane issues, like not being supervised, and it's taken them years to get the department to do anything.