Lecture Series: 'Sexual Misconduct and the Crisis in Reproductive Health Care in the U.S.' by Wendy Kline - 22/02/2024

Lecture Series: 'Sexual Misconduct and the Crisis in Reproductive Health Care in the U.S.' by Wendy Kline - 22/02/2024 - 16u - 17u30

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Do I need to take a security guard to the gynecologist?” Sexual Misconduct and the Crisis in Reproductive Health Care in the U.S.

Beginning in 1960, a trip to the gynecologist was nearly synonymous with getting the birth control pill – or at least the main reason many visited the gynecologist in the U.S. But by the 1990s, it was becoming clearer that more and more sexually active women were putting off a trip to the gynecologist due to the shame and fear of getting a pelvic exam.  But why has the pelvic exam become a source of shame and fear? The exposure of sexual misconduct in the examining room has eroded the sense of trust between patients and gynecologists, resulting in a massive decline in preventive reproductive health care. In this talk, I argue that the real problem has to do with the unaddressed, indeed silenced, stigma surrounding the practice of the routine gynecological exam. It has to do with the very uncomfortable question of what it means to touch and peer into the vagina of a patient. And it’s a problem that’s been with us since the origins of gynecology.