Anaesthetist sexually assaulted women during their c-sections

[fatlazycow]

Happened in Brazil, he was only caught out when nurses hid a camera as they had suspicions something was off.

Saw this Twitter thread and was pretty horrified at how this really isn’t a rare one-off. mobile.twitter.com/Aromatica365/status/1546561941883215873

And these are only the ones that have been found out and reported in the news, likely the minority of overall offences.

are woman not safe anywhere????! Just wtf

This is why women and their families must be allowed to insist on female caregivers for themselves and for their loved ones.

I feel slightly sick that the staff knew what was happening and wanted to record it, so just put forward yet another woman as bait. I bet she wasn’t asked or warned, just offered up as a useful prop.

The actual footage appears to be on Twitter as well for anybody to view, I doubt she consented to that either :(

But obviously we have to remember that "There is no evidence that predatory and abusive men have ever had to pretend to be anything else to carry out abusive and predatory behaviour."

You’re correct that women aren’t safe anywhere. I actually think it’s so important for women, especially young woman, to be made aware of that. I was reading a sad article today on bbc about how lots of women had been sexually assaulted in their own homes by male ‘massage therapists’. Not victim blaming but I wish someone had taught those women never ever ever to invite a strange man home and be alone with him, it’s so sad that society lied to them about the need to stay safe. Like that woman who was murdered the other day walking home alone at night because she believed women should be able to walk home at night. Women will never be safe walking alone at night until all men have a frickin curfew and electronic tags!

Pretending women are safe alone with strange men just creates opportunities for perverts and increases the already huge number of sexual assault victims.

So depressing, but true.

Babdoc · Today 11:35
Once they had learned the correct technique in theatre, they could be trusted to be gentle and skilful when working with conscious patients

I understand what you are trying to say, but actually practising on people who cannot show any reaction to pain or discomfort is not really a good way to learn to how be gentle and skilful.

“That woman who was murdered the other day BECAUSE she believed women should be able to walk alone at night.”

Are you for real?

I mean, the other option seems to have been to do nothing, so this seems better. They clearly thought an accusation alone wouldn't stick, and weren't quite sure what was really even going on.

Just the logistics of it seem incredibly improbably so it would be easy for the doctor to brush it off as crazy, and then he'd have been more careful.

ScrollingLeaves, the students were supervised - we demonstrated the correct way to insert a speculum, and guided their hands if they were having difficulty. It was easier than on an awake patient, as there is no muscle tone or clenching under the anaesthetic, and the students weren’t embarrassed or fearful of looking inept to the patient. None of them were rough - they wanted to learn to do it professionally and skilfully in order to give their future awake patients confidence in them. Half of them were also female. We got them used to dealing with retroverted uteri, limited/difficult access due to obesity or arthritis restricting thigh abduction, etc, and aimed to have them suitably skilled up by the time they finished their clinical attachment in gynae. We certainly didn’t just stand back and let them make a traumatic mess of our ( soon to be) operation site!
Interestingly, decades ago in my hospital it was actually the students themselves who said they were uncomfortable about the consent issue, which led to the change in practice, which I think speaks well of them - and less so of the old male gynae consultants!

That thread is horrifying

Non-consensual v.es used to happen to women in this country as well

I used to work in thestres as a ( circ )at a district general close to where I live and I can tell you you the anaesthetists were totally proffessional, with an abundance of knowledge as I used to hear them talking shop to students!

I remember, one of the anaesthetits stopping me in the corridor with a ginormous set of instruments in my hand to have a chat about the difference between the camels in Australia and Saudi Arabia. This particular Doctor had a knack for bringing patients back from the brink of death and every single time if assistance was required over the intercom. He was a larger than life character.

I have nothing but the greatest respect for them and of course, their colleagues. I like to remember the majority of Doctors want to help people.

It is a shame that the unsavoury characters stay in peoples' minds.

This! I’ve had two c-sections and the room was full of various medical staff, and my husband. How could there possibly be just one medic there!

@Babdoc · Today 16:16
ScrollingLeaves, the students were supervised - we demonstrated the correct way to insert a speculum, and guided their hands if they were having difficulty. It was easier than on an awake patient, as there is no muscle tone or clenching under the anaesthetic, and the students weren’t embarrassed or fearful of looking inept to the patient. None of them were rough - they wanted to learn to do it professionally and skilfully in order to give their future awake patients confidence in them. Half of them were also female. We got them used to dealing with retroverted uteri, limited/difficult access due to obesity or arthritis restricting thigh abduction, etc, and aimed to have them suitably skilled up by the time they finished their clinical attachment in gynae. We certainly didn’t just stand back and let them make a traumatic mess of our ( soon to be) operation site!

Interestingly, decades ago in my hospital it was actually the students themselves who said they were uncomfortable about the consent issue, which led to the change in practice, which I think speaks well of them - and less so of the old male gynae consultants!

Thank you for taking the trouble to explain those teaching methods and the reasoning for doing it that way so carefully. I can see how you must have been a very good teacher.👌

Well of course not all men etc (and that applies to other things not just healthcare) but that long thread of news stories makes me realise that male doctors really are no different to the male population at large and women really are not safe anywhere :(

It seems like the victim caught on tape being raped is thinking of suing the hospital for not stopping the rapist. Many nurses here in Brazil are giving interviews and saying that if it wasn't filmed the anesthetist would walk due to lack of evidence and the nurses (all female) word would not be enough for him to go to jail as it would be their word against his. He is white, rich and a man and also has ties with some very powerful people.

Women are indeed never safe.

What about if you needed one?

Remember this wasn't in the UK

I had to have a c section under GA only days ago and when I first read this I thought "how is this even possible when there are 8+ people in the room?"

Obviously it's happened as there's video footage. I haven't seen it.
Absolutely horrific. It's unbelievable that he did this when other staff were there and could potentially catch him doing it at any moment.

Yeah, I thought the same - I was with my DD when she had her section and there was lots of medics in there. I was actually surprised how many (I've never been in a theatre before)

Thinking about it though, there was only me and the anaesthetist on the 'head' side of the screen (and my DD, obviously!) all the other staff were at the business end, until my GS was born then they came over to our side. I've seen stills of the video, I can see how that could happen when everyone is focused on getting the baby out.

Just an horrific story - it's been on my mind all day. It's not often I'm shocked at the depravity of some men but this one got me.

Stop the world, I want to get off

The video footage was on Twitter yesterday...I'd heard of the case previously and realised what it was in a second or two and scrolled past quickly but god it was horrifying. That poor woman.
Abuse under anaesthetic is something that I had never ever considered.

If it was life threatening then, yes, the risk of sexual assault is worth it, probably, I guess ... I'm a victim of sexual assault, I actually only say it's worth it as I have kids and they'd be devastated if I refused life threatening surgery.

Otherwise, I do everything possible without sedation of any kind eg endoscopies. A lot of surgeries can be done with spinal if you pressure the team enough. There's also options like hypnosis.

Yes - I have spent time thinking about this!

It's mainly the risk of post-op assault I was thinking of - that's quite common - but turns out 'in-op' is a risk too. Great.

When a male healthcare worker is in a room with a female there should always be another female as a chaperone.

I'm an anesthetic nurse and was horrified to read this. It would never occur in this country.

Obviously women have partners with them for c sections.

We don't routinely sedate patients in this way. (Except for specific surgeries and with prior consent). And definitely not for a section, you don't want to miss the exciting bit!

We take patient dignity and consent extremely seriously.

There have actually been a number of documented assaults by male healthcare workers on female patients in recovery, in the UK.
Not specifically as per this example on a woman undergoing a c section.