pap smear rape?

Until her daughter was born, Mitzi, 27, had never had a pap smear test and nobody ever suggested she have one - which is understandable in view of the fact that she had never seen a doctor since childhood.

"Soon after Jacquie was born I started taking her to the local doctor for colic and rashes and other baby problems," says Mitzi, "and one day - when I was distracted with Jacquie crying her eyes out - this doctor suggested I come in for a pap smear test."

"No, he didn't suggest it - with an option to say no," explains Mitzi, "he insisted I have a pap smear test on the basis of medical research that apparently said that women after childbirth are at high risk for cervical cancer."

"This doctor was a GP - not a gynecologist or even a pediatrician," says Mitzi, "and I don't know why I bothered to listen to him but two months after giving birth I guess I was in no mood for rational thought."

"When I turned up to keep the pap smear test appointment he told me to leave Jacquie with his receptionist," says Mitzi, "and when I pushed the stroller towards the woman she gave me a look as if to say 'you poor young thing'."

"I felt like running away right there and then," says Mitzi. "There was something not quite right about the situation. The woman's eyes quite clearly told me that I was going to be a lamb to the slaughter - and that's exactly what I was."

"The doctor made me take all of my clothes off and then he gave me a sheet to cover myself and asked me to lay down on the examining table."

"He forced my legs open and spent a very long time poking and prodding around inside me."

"I felt violated and sick."

"As far as I was concerned he had 'raped' me under the guise of medical examination - and he had taken advantage of my vulnerability as a new mother to gain my trust by fraud."

"He was an old man - in his sixties - and this was his way of getting his rocks off."

"After the ordeal I dressed as quickly as I could and rushed out without saying a word to him," says Mitzi. "The receptionist looked at me with pity and I felt like screaming at her for being an accomplice in the rape."

"When I telephoned to make the appointment for the pap smear she could have advised me to go to a woman doctor or a gynecologist or do anything but subject myself to the medical ravages of her dirty old man boss."

"I was obviously not the first young mom to experience this ordeal with him," says Mitzi. "That woman knew what was going on - but she kept quiet."

"At the time I didn't tell anyone about it," says Mitzi. "I felt too ashamed to tell my friends about the indignity the old man had put me through, but now that I am stronger I want every young mom to watch out for doctors like him."

"I wasn't even interested in the results of the pap smear. The whole examination - and the reason for it - was a fraud. It was just an excuse to medically rape young women."

"I took Jacquie to a new doctor after that incident," says Mitzi, "and I never plan on having another pap smear test for the rest of my life if I can help it.