Tag Archives: medical discrimination

Brazil: how gynaecology fails lesbians

Lesbian and bisexual women go to the gynecologist less than heterosexual women. According to data from the report on Comprehensive Health Care for Lesbian and Bisexual Women, from the Ministry of Health, only 47% of this group have gynecological consultations annually, while the number rises to 76% when we talk about straight women, according to Febrasgo (Brazilian Federation of Associations of Gynecology and Obstetrics).

To understand why this happens, Delas listened to 45 non-heterosexual women on the topic. Anonymous reports reveal negligence, unpreparedness and prejudice by health professionals when it comes to sex between women. 
(Translated)

Mulheres lésbicas e bissexuais vão menos ao ginecologista do que as heterossexuais. Segundo dados do relatório Atenção Integral à Saúde das Mulheres Lésbicas e Bissexuais, do Ministério da Saúde, apenas 47% deste grupo faz consultas ginecológicas anualmente, enquanto o número sobe para 76% quando falamos de mulheres hétero, segundo Febrasgo (Federação Brasileira das Associações de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia).

Para entender porque isso ocorre o Delas ouviu 45 mulheres não-heterossexuais sobre o tema. Os relatos anônimos revelam negligências, despreparo e preconceito de profissionais da saúde quando o assunto é sexo entre mulheres.
(Original)

Continue reading at: https://delas.ig.com.br/saudedamulher/2020-09-01/lesbicas-e-bi-denunciam-negligencia-de-ginecologistas-nao-nos-examinam.html (Source)

Lesbians in Chile – excerpts from the annual Movilh report

Chile

March 2020 – The annual Movil report showed a 58% increase in allegations and abuses, with the following specific details reported for Chilean lesbians:

  • Abuses reported by lesbians rose 34%
  • 1.54% of the population (221,796 people) are gay or lesbian, 75,000 more people than in 2015.
  • “Rompiendo El Silencio” survey – discrimination has been experienced by the majority of women, such that
    • 75.4% suffered harassment on the street because of their sexual orientation
    • 40.3% of the total who received sexual health advice were forced
    • 68% did not have a pap smear for fear of discrimination.
  • Police abuse and arbitrary detentions rose from one reported case in 2017 to 16 cases, 38% of which involved lesbians.
  • Workplace discrimination allegations fell by  26% compared to the previous year, registering a total of 28 abuses. 36% of the cases affected lesbians.
  • Community discrimination remained unchanged. 47% of which affected lesbians.
    (Translated)
  • Las denuncias o atropellos contra lesbianas subieron un 34%
  • El 1,54% de la población (221.796 personas) se declara gay o lesbiana, lo que equivale a 75 mil personas más que en 2015.
    (Original)
  • La discriminación ha sido vivida por la mayoría de las mujeres, a un punto que el 75.4% sufrió acosos en la calle en razón de su orientación sexual, mientras el 40,3% del total que recibió consejos en salud sexual fue obligada a dar ese paso. Además, en el campo de la salud, el 68% no atreve a practicar un Papanicolaou por temor a sufrir algún tipo de discriminación.
  • Los atropellos policiales contra personas en razón de su orientación sexual o identidad de género, aumentaron de manera explosiva, pasando de un abuso en 2017 a 16 en 2018, un 1.500% más. De los 16 abusos, 15 fueron propinados por Carabineros y uno por la policía civil.
    El 38% de los casos afectó a lesbianasDiscriminación laboral – las denuncias o casos por discriminación laboral bajaron un 26% en relación al año previo, registrándose un total de 28 abusos. El 36% de los casos afectó a lesbianas.
  • Discriminación comunitaria – Los abusos homo/transfóbicos propinados por familiares, conocidos o vecinos de personas LGBTI, mantuvieron la cifra del año precedente. El 47 % de los atropellos afectó a lesbianas.

Full report: http://www.movilh.cl/documentacion/Informe-DDHH-Movilh-2019.pdf

Overall report summary:

2019 was the most violent year for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersex people (LGBTI) in Chile with a 58% increase in cases and allegations of homophobia and transphobia, reaching 1103 abuses, the highest number reported to date, as outlined in the XVIII Annual Human Rights Report on Sexual and Gender Diversity, released today by the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh) for the first time without a press conference in the wake of the Coronavirus.

“There were more cases, more complaints, and the abuses were more violent and savage, as is made clear by the increases in the most ruthless abuses (murders and beatings). This situation has been noticed since 2018 and is not related to the social outbreak, which only had an impact on an increase in police abuse, “said Movilh spokesman Oscar Rementería.
(Original)

El 2019 fue el año más violento para las personas lesbianas, gays, bisexuales, transexuales e intersexuales (LGBTI) en Chile al incrementar un 58% los casos y denuncias por homofobia y transfobia, ascendiendo a 1103 los atropellos, la cifra más alta conocida hasta la fecha, reportó el XVIII Informe Anual de Derechos Humanos de la Diversidad sexual y de Género, dado a conocer hoy por el Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Movilh) por primera vez sin conferencia de prensa a raíz del Coronavirus.

“Hubo más casos, más denuncias y los abusos fueron más violentos y salvajes, como queda claro con los aumentos de los atropellos más despiadados (asesinatos y las golpizas). Esta situación ya se venía advirtiendo desde el 2018 y no tiene relación con el estallido social, el cual solo impactó en un incremento de los abusos policiales”, sostuvo el vocero del Movilh, Oscar Rementería.
(Translated)

Continue reading at: https://www.movilh.cl/homofobia-y-transfobia-aumentan-un-58-y-suma-mas-de-mil-casos-la-cifra-mas-alta-en-la-historia-de-chile/ (source)

Medical prejudice affects health of Cuban lesbians

semlac-mujeres

“There are lesbian women who fear going to the doctor and spend years and years without attending. Doctors say awful things when they see that you don’t meet the classic image of a woman painted and wearing heels, and that’s hard. So, given that rejection, women don’t go to the clinic anymore, ” Isbrailda Ruiz Bell tells SEMlac.

Ruiz Bell is an activist and member of the group of lesbian and bisexual women Las Isabelas, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, 762 km from the capital. According to her experience, stereotypes and prejudices can be found in different medical consultations, but in some there is more abuse.

“The gynecology consultation is a service where lesbian woman are subjected to more abuse. For example, they should ask for consent for students to attend the physical exam, but that does not happen, ”says Ruiz Bell.

Among the main problems are the low perception of risk of sexually transmitted infections, poor self-care and prevention of cervical and breast cancer, as well as depression and anxiety caused by lesbophobic discrimination.

“There are women who have been diagnosed with diseases at very advanced stages because of their fear of being rejected in a medical institution, I tell you from local experience and also because we have seen it in the workshops organized by Las Isabelas,” recalls Ruiz Bell.

The study confirms what the testimonies say: “The vast majority of women express having received a differentiated attention, nuanced by prejudices and stereotypes, attitudes expressed in gestures and a rigid body language, unfriendly and lacking sympathy, which becomes in an obstacle that limits their attendance to specialized health consultations”, the authors subscribe.
(Translated)

 

“Hay mujeres lesbianas que temen ir al médico y pasan años y años sin atenderse. Los médicos te dicen cosas feas cuando ven que no repites el prototipo clásico de mujer pintada y con tacones, y eso es duro. Entonces, ante ese rechazo, la persona no va más a la consulta”, dice Isbrailda Ruiz Bell a SEMlac.

Ruiz Bell es activista e integrante del colectivo de mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales Las Isabelas, en la provincia Santiago de Cuba, a 762 km de la capital. Según su experiencia, los estereotipos y ofensas pueden encontrarse en distintas consultas médicas, pero en algunas existe mayor maltrato.

“La consulta de ginecología es un servicio donde la mujer lesbiana es más agredida. Por ejemplo, debieran pedir el consentimiento para que estudiantes asistan al examen físico, pero eso no sucede”, afirma Ruiz Bell.

Entre los principales problemas aparecen la baja percepción de riesgo ante las infecciones de transmisión sexual, el escaso autocuidado y prevención del cáncer cérvico uterino y de mama, además de depresión y ansiedad producto de la discriminación lesbofóbica.

“Hay mujeres a quienes se les han descubierto enfermedades en estadios muy avanzados por miedo a ser rechazadas en una institución médica, te lo digo por experiencias cercanas y también porque lo hemos visto en los talleres que organizan Las Isabelas”, recuerda Ruiz Bell.

El estudio confirma lo que los testimonios denuncian: “La gran mayoría de las mujeres expresa haber recibido una atención diferenciada, matizada por prejuicios y estereotipos, actitudes expresadas en gestos y un lenguaje corporal rígido, poco cordial y carente de simpatía, lo cual se convierte en un obstáculo que limita su asistencia a consultas especializadas de salud”, suscriben sus autores.
(Original)

Continuereading at: https://rotativo.com.mx/2020/01/27/mujer/cuba-mujeres-lesbianas-salud-a-costa-de-prejuicios-821686/ (Source)

Lesbians ‘told they did not need cervical screening‘

uterus-1089344_960_720

Women who have sex with women are often wrongly told they do not need a cervical screening test, say LGBT groups.

This results in half of all eligible lesbian and bisexual women never having had a smear test, they said.

The human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes most cervical cancers, can be transmitted through lesbian sex.

Cervical cancer charities say all women, no matter their orientation, should have regular cervical screening.

LGBT groups say women regularly face barriers to accessing healthcare and can have poor experiences when they do.

The charity Jo‘s Cervical Cancer Trust says all women, regardless of their sexual orientation, should have regular cervical screening.

“As HPV can be transmitted through skin-to-skin in the genital area, gay women [sic] are equally at risk of contracting HPV and experiencing abnormal cervical changes and, thus, should always attend when invited for cervical screening.”

In a study of attitudes to cervical screening among gay [sic] and bisexual women in the north-west of England, carried out by the University of Salford in 2011, 37% of women questioned said they had been told they did not require a cervical screening test because of their sexual orientation.

Continue reading: https://stockdailydish.com/lesbians-told-they-did-not-need-cervical-screening/ (source)

 

Uganda: Doctor assaults patient after discovering she is a lesbian

girl2-1.jpg

A Ugandan doctor beat his own patient after learning during a consultation that she is a lesbian, broke her skull, dislocated her arm, and threw her out of the hospital amid renewed calls for a new Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Continue reading: https://76crimes.com/2019/10/20/cruelty-ugandan-medical-doctor-brutally-assaults-own-patient-on-knowing-she-is-lesbian/ (source)

Perpignan, France: Lesbian barred from accompanying toddler in Emergency Department files complaint

img_9390

A lesbian couple went to the police of Perpignan on Sunday afternoon after a nurse barred access to the pediatric Emergency Department to one of them, who is not the biological mother of their 3 year old son, but has parental authority.

Continue reading at: https://sivtimes.com/a-lesbian-mother-forbidden-to-accompany-his-3-year-old-son-to-the-emergency-room/15076/ (Source)

“Ass”uming Butches Into Extinction

BigBooButch
Memoirs of a Butch Lesbian

“This doctor decided that the butch lesbian in front of her was not actually a butch lesbian but a trans man in denial. In the chart, she writes that this butch is a 48 year old trans man but adds that the “chart will say female.” There was no conversation, there were no questions about whether or not this woman believed she was trans, there was nothing but an assumption; and that assumption was based on this butch woman’s appearance.”

Continue reading BigBooButch at: “Ass”uming Butches Into Extinction « BigBooButch (Source)