Create medical protocol for treating rape victims: Brinda Karat

New Delhi, March 18: There is a need for a medical protocol for treating victims of sexual violence and doctors should be trained for it, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat said here Monday. “The gap remains in what women require and what they get. There is not even a protocol on how doctors should treat a victim of sexual violence,” Karat said at the annual day function of People’s Health Foundation of India. “Medical students should be trained on how to treat victims of sexual violence and domestic violence,” she said. Karat also said the insurance-based medical system in India would make it even more difficult for women to access healthcare. Speaking on the occasion, Dulitha Nandanie Fernando, professor at Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, said access to healthcare was a major problem for women. “Attention is needed on improving access, comprehensiveness and responsiveness of healthcare for women,” Fernando said.