A woman received degrading treatment against her physical, psychological and sexual integrity during a routine gynecological consultation at a private clinical center in the province of Córdoba. The doctor, who claimed to be a specialist in tocogynecology, DDP, rented offices without minimum conditions for carrying out the practice: they did not have gynecological tables or screens to protect the patient’s privacy. He also did not provide her with a consultation gown and performed sexual touching on the breasts and genital area with and without latex gloves.
“It took a long time to get my Pap smear done. I was lying down, looking at the ceiling, without panties and unable to see what he was doing. Yes, I felt pain and discomfort.”the victim begins by recounting, as this medium was able to recover from the judicial ruling of the Court of Children, Adolescence, Family and Gender Violence of the 4th Nomination that forced the false gynecologist to pay a sum of money to the victim and to undergo specialized psychological treatment. in the problem of gender violence, among other things.
“He didn’t talk much. I had already asked him a lot of things that he hadn’t answered. In my head I thought that he was looking for a wart or something, it’s like he wanted to justify touching him.”, he completed on January 14, 2021. During the consultation, cleaning staff also entered because the door was not closed and the room was in an area with wide circulation.
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“I also requested the incorporation of a plaque that says ‘gender violence is not an option’ in the visible places where gender violence was carried out, as another form of symbolic reparation,” the judge explained. Mariana Wallacein dialogue with The uncovering. And he justified: “She is unaware of the right to dignity that every human being has: the patient’s rights to be informed about the medical practices to be carried out and specific rights as a woman in the area of gynecological medical consultation.”
This conviction for psychological and sexual gender violence during a medical practice is related to violence towards women’s bodies that turns out to be “structural and repetitive.”
Economic analysis of gender violence
The court ruling offers a contextual and economic analysis of the aforementioned case. According to the judge, feminist theorists believe that dehierarchization, subalternization and the withdrawal of rights such as dignified treatment refers to an economic benefit for whoever appropriates these rights. “We are not talking about a scam or an economic detriment to women, but rather there is patrimonial enrichment at the expense of the violation of their rights. Gloves are not used, they are not given a gown, they are offered and charged for specialized services that are not specialized, and they are received in offices that are not prepared and equipped to provide correct and dignified care,” Wallace clarified.
This is why in the ruling the judge does not speak of “compensation”, but of “reparation” since “since the woman’s violated right cannot be returned, they should return the money they made with that right.”
The magistrate there even wrote: “The doctor and the medical center maximize their profit possibilities and minimize costs to the extreme.without assessing the implications of their higher income and lower expenses (…) such savings are not at their expense and expense but at the expense and expense of the patients who receive a degraded, outrageous and debased gynecological health service.”
In a gynecological or kinesiologist consultation there is inevitably contact with the genitals or the body, but “What makes the difference is the respect of the medical staff, predominantly male, for female genitality and corporality”. “Given the prestige and positioning of doctors in society, the power of medicine over society in general and over women’s bodies in particular is a variable that facilitates abuse and gender violence. We can take as an example the enormous number of cases of obstetric violence. “This is structural and systematic violence.”
Structural violence
During the month of March, Justice also convicted a masseuse who posed as a kinesiologist for sexual abuse with carnal access and usurpation of titles of basketball athletes.and who served in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
“It is the responsibility of the professional not to disseminate misleading information and to provide services as a specialist if he or she is qualified as such. Correlatively, it is the responsibility of the medical center not to spread/endorse misleading advertising, and not to facilitate the practice of medicine as specialists to those who are not specialists,” Wallace emphasized.
For this reason, the lawyer representing the four women complaining about the masseuse, Melisa Garcia, He compared both cases and analyzed: “I believe that the greatest parallel between the case of the false kinesiologist and the false gynecologist is the manipulation and deception that this title allows them, aggravating the specific fact of abuse.”
The president of the Association of Argentine Feminist Lawyers (ABOFEM), as well as Judge Wallace, pointed out the vulnerability of the victims to the prestige of the medical function and the lack of knowledge of its operation, processes and techniques.
“Both cases have in common the point of confusion that they reach because they do not understand whether what they are beginning to perceive is typical of a physical rehabilitation intervention or a gynecological study”Garcia explained.
For his part, Wallace indicated that the complaint against the false gynecologist that gave rise to this legal case belonged to a woman who had had a birth prior to the gynecological consultation for postpartum control with DDP, so “she was clear about what a study or a control of this nature”, which allowed him to recognize himself as a victim of abuse.
“Those reported did not constitute an isolated incident; but, on the contrary, they were the result of structural gender violence and a sociocultural pattern justified in the male predominance of the professional over the bodies of others (women).causing their patients feelings of physical and emotional humiliation, placing them on a plane of absolute inequality.”
This patient’s testimony was joined by two others from women who went through similar situations. “All three give details that the man had a way of carrying out the practice of medical examination to say the least. For example, One of them underwent a gynecological examination twice without explaining why. Or the extreme closeness of the face to the genital area, and they declare ostensibly masturbatory practices”.
The same thing happened in the case of the athletes Ayelén Goldberg, Candela Thim, Ailén Dobarro and Morena Tojo, who suffered repeated abuse with the convict’s excuse of being able to massage the abductors or some specific area of the body, given that the athletes had body pain. frequent due to their physical activity. Justice was able to verify that these events occurred between November 2017 and December 2018, when the victims were between 16 and 27 years old.
But there is one more fact that unites both cases: Justice was served. This is not just another aspect: according to Amnesty International data published in 2022, only 15.5% of complaints for crimes against sexual integrity lead to convictions in Argentina.
Fardin Effect
After actress Thelma Fardín publicly denounced actor Juan Darthés for sexual abuse in 2018, complaints for this crime and other types of gender violence increased by 1,240%. This “Fardín effect” that promotes the communication of this type of violent experiences by the victims occurred in both the case of Córdoba and Buenos Aires.
“We filed the complaint with two of the four athletes in August 2022. Then, the others were summoned as witnesses for being part of the same group and, upon hearing the story of their companions, some of them realized that they had also been abused and also became complainants,” said lawyer García, while claiming the importance of Comprehensive Sexual Education from early school education to acquire tools that allow us to understand what consent is, dignified treatment, and how to preserve physical integrity. , psychological and sexual, and to detect when you are a victim or perpetrator of sexual abuse.
Your opinion is supported by A study published by the Public Guardianship Ministry of the City of Buenos Aires, between 70 and 80% of boys, girls and adolescents between 12 and 14 years old, were able to understand and report that they were abused after receiving ESI classes.
The importance of feeling accompanied and heard seems to be a key component for victims of this type of crime to decide to speak out. “I felt like she was not alone,” said Candela Thim. And she added: “I can see that all the exhaustion caused by exposing myself to such a judicial process was worth it. Almost without being able to believe it, justice ruled in favor of the women, and this fact is very important for everyone.”. For her part, Goldberg issued: “One of the most difficult things is to accept that I was a victim of manipulation, and that my body was mistreated. Seeing yourself in that place is not easy, accepting it much less. But this time we won because we were strong.”
Dobarro also expressed being “deeply grateful” for being part of “a strong block of four women who accompany each other from minute zero,” although “there are many more.”
“I feel a certain peace of mind that this has ended not only for us, but that no one has to live what we live with him,” Morena Barboza contributed, for her part, while clarifying: “This does not prevent these things from happening.” continue to happen because in the society in which we live, unfortunately, we find ourselves in situations of vulnerability that some men take advantage of.” Therefore, always report.
If you are a victim of gender violence, call line 144 or contact WhatsApp at 1127716463, or by email at [email protected] for advice or reporting, anonymously and free of charge, every day.
