2023-05-06 17:20:23
A basic gynecological care protocol that allows knowing in advance what each procedure consists of, choosing among the available options, as well as receiving respectful treatment would be extremely useful to prevent situations of sexual abuse by medical professionals.
This was confirmed by specialists consulted by Télam, who warned that the complaints show that abuse and harassment in the context of gynecological consultations exist and in reality have always existed.
They demand a gynecological care protocol to prevent abuse
The gynecologist, writer and influencer Melisa Pereyra said that now women are talking and it is the system that has to rise to the challenge to solve it.
”It is incredible that these things continue to happen in the 21st century and it has to do with the degree of impunity that (the abusers) have within the doctor’s office, the medical college and the judicial system that does not respond. There are many actors who ‘do not see that they do not see’ or look the other way, ”said the psychologist Silvina Cohen Imach, a psychologist specializing in sexual violence.
The gynecologist Diego Javier Clementi continued to attend this week in his private clinic in the Buenos Aires town of Burzaco despite the fact that he is being prosecuted for five acts of sexual abuse of patients during consultations, and investigated for two more cases, although on Friday Télam was able to corroborate that the medical center remained closed even though it was in the service time slot.
On the other hand, at least 10 gynecologists were denounced or convicted in the last 5 years for these crimes; The case of the doctor from San Juan Carlos Martínez, who was sentenced in 2019 to 21 years in prison for abusing 17 patients, is paradigmatic.
There is no protocol for gynecological care
Currently, although there are guidelines for respected childbirth to prevent obstetric violence as well as guidelines for comprehensive health care in case of gender violence, there are no protocols for gynecological care for patients who are not in labor or are in the process of giving birth. of gestation.
However, some groups and organizations promote basic recommendations. “We have the right not to suffer disqualification, humiliation or various expressions of violence in any medical office”, can be read on the Instagram account @hastacadoc of victims of sexual abuse in the consultation with Dr. Clementi.
”It is not right: that they ask you to undress if this has nothing to do with the reason for your consultation, if they want to touch or touch you inappropriately given the reason for your consultation, that they make you feel that your privacy has been violated, that they perform procedures on you that intentionally cause you pain”, the flyers also read.
“Your gynecologist should not judge your sexual practices, threaten you or extort you,” they add. For its part, Ipas Latin America, an organization that works for women’s reproductive autonomy, also produced a series of recommendations that it published on its social networks.
For this NGO, they are “red flags” or a reason for alert in a gynecological appointment that the professional “insists on giving you a pelvic exam as a minor without justifying it”, “does not wear gloves”, “does not explain what he will or will not do consults you before performing a procedure” or “makes provocative sexual comments, the same as if he judges your sexual practices”.
“Any area can become at risk for sexual abuse and if there is one that is more dangerous, perhaps it is the home, the domestic space if we take the figures into account,” said Cohen Imach, who is a university professor and a member of the Association Argentina of Prevention of Child Mistreatment (Asapmi) and author of the book “Sexual abuse and traumas in childhood”.
Although the medical consultation usually involves nudity and a body examination, this “should not pose any risk because the gynecologist follows a medical practice” and, in any case, “it is important to be able to differentiate it from abuse”, hence “the importance of a protocol but also of the ESI (Comprehensive Sexual Education)”.
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