In regions across the globe, medical students learn how to perform pelvic exams by “practicing” on patients under anesthesia—often without the patients’ knowledge or consent. The practice, considered “medical sexual assault” (MSA), is a major violation of patients’ rights, despite its frequent use.

Learn more about this issue from the documentary At Your Cervix, available to stream for a limited one-week viewing from April 23 to May 1 in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Featuring interviews with students, patients, doctors, midwives, politicians and advocates, At Your Cervix offers compelling testimony as to why nonconsensual pelvic exams must end.

Tickets to the virtual screenings are available here. The screenings are sponsored by the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners SisterSong, Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health, and the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).

Online Panel Discusses MSA and Patients’ Rights

Following the screening on Wednesday, April 30, ticket holders can learn more at an online panel, “Ending Medical Sexual Assault: Ethical and Trauma-Informed Care Practices for Patients and Providers,” taking place at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PST. The Center’s Alejandra Cardenas, Senior Director of Legal Strategies, Innovation & Research, will join other reproductive rights experts to discuss:

• Why we need to call MSA what it is—and what makes that challenging;
• What trauma-informed care looks like and how medical training impacts patient care;
• Panelists’ experiences in MSA education;
• The history of MSA;
• Legislative efforts to combat MSA; and
• Patients’ legal rights.

Panel Details:

Date/Time: Wednesday, April 30, 5 p.m. PDT/8 p.m. EDT

Location: Online

Panel Speakers:

• Alejandra Cardenas, Senior Director of Legal Strategies, Innovation & Research, Center for Reproductive Rights
• A’magine, Director/Producer, At Your Cervix
• Shanti Moore, Reproductive Justice Consultant and Midwife, SisterSong
• Stephanie Tillman, “The Feminist Midwife” and Board Chair, Repro TLC
• Sofia Rosenberg-Klainberg, Trauma-Informed Nurse-Midwife, Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health
• Elizabeth Newman, Public Policy Director, Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault