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I would definitely have a problem with this. I'd argue that they have no more right to do a gynecological exam on a patient under anesthesia than they do to do

I would definitely have a problem with this. I'd argue that they have no more right to do a gynecological exam on a patient under anesthesia than they do to do any other procedure completely unrelated to the primary one. Absurd: could you imagine if you were getting your tonsils out and the doctor just decided to do an unwarranted prostate exam? Or perform liposuction as an added bonus. Or amputate a limb? All we're talking about is degrees of the same thing (being subjected to procedures that you have no chance of declining)- where do we draw the line once we go there at all?

roel_v 16y ago
Oh I have a problem with this, too, don't get me wrong. What I was saying is that I find it hard to qualify as 'sexual assault'. In the case of amputating a leg against necessity or your will, as a regular 'assault', probably; it's the 'sexual' part that I think doesn't apply. Still, in the case of the prostate exam, I'm not sure there is a criminal legal remedy against it. It's not assault, it's not sexual assault, at best it's a breach of patient-doctor confidence. A civil case, to the best of my knowledge. What kind of 'damage' are you going to claim? Statutory damages (for those in countries where these exist) are not going to help because if it can't be qualified under a statute, there's not going to be much 'statutory damage' either. Mental anguish? Maybe. It's a tough sell to most courts in most of the world though. Doctors may have professional codes of conduct, maybe it's regulated in there, but doctors here in the Netherlands have those too - many of them, being a very regulated country; yet still for years these involuntary examinations were done, without the women knowing even. I see no reason to believe that this situation would be different in every other country of the world; in other words, if it happens in the Netherlands, I would find it logical that the same things happen in other countries. Not all other countries, just some.

roel_v 16y ago

Oh I have a problem with this, too, don't get me wrong. What I was saying is that I find it hard to qualify as 'sexual assault'. In the case of amputating a leg against necessity or your will, as a regular 'assault', probably; it's the 'sexual' part that I think doesn't apply. Still, in the case of the prostate exam, I'm not sure there is a criminal legal remedy against it. It's not assault, it's not sexual assault, at best it's a breach of patient-doctor confidence. A civil case, to the best of my knowledge. What kind of 'damage' are you going to claim? Statutory damages (for those in countries where these exist) are not going to help because if it can't be qualified under a statute, there's not going to be much 'statutory damage' either. Mental anguish? Maybe. It's a tough sell to most courts in most of the world though. Doctors may have professional codes of conduct, maybe it's regulated in there, but doctors here in the Netherlands have those too - many of them, being a very regulated country; yet still for years these involuntary examinations were done, without the women knowing even. I see no reason to believe that this situation would be different in every other country of the world; in other words, if it happens in the Netherlands, I would find it logical that the same things happen in other countries. Not all other countries, just some.