Dr Suzanne Egan, 'On the Utility of Trauma as Feminist Practice' (Part 2 of 2)

Sexual Violence, Medicine, and Psychiatry Symposium
Dr Suzanne Egan, University of Sydney
'On the Utility of Trauma as Feminist Practice' (Part 2 of 2)
In May 2021, SHaME held the Sexual Violence, Medicine and Psychiatry Symposium as an online academic event bringing together an international and interdisciplinary group of researchers to explore the relationship between medicine, psychiatry, and sexual violence.
The symposium explored the role of medical professionals in debates about sexual violence. Police doctors and forensic medical examiners, GPs, gynaecologists, surgeons, nurses, midwives, prison surgeons, psychiatrists, and therapists working in all forms of institutional and community settings have been influential agents in the interpretation, medicalisation, and adjudication of sexual attacks. This is an important time to investigate the relationship between medical professionals and sexual violence. Scandals around medical and psychiatric responses to sexual abuse emerge on a regular basis (viz. Nauru detention camp; the abuse of people in psychiatric wards, prison, and detention camps; failures to send the biological samples from ‘rape kits’ for forensic examination; complaints about medical examinations; popular anxieties about the medical treatment and rehabilitation of violent offenders). The symposium sought to promote human health through providing insights into the role of medicine and psychiatry in understanding sexual violence.
This video contains references to sexual violence, assault, and rape and may be distressing for some viewers. Please consult our Safeguarding Statement for advice and resources, which we hope will be of help: shame.bbk.ac.uk/wp-content/up...
Find out more about The SHaME Project at shame.bbk.ac.uk/.