The tide of women will be red this Wednesday from 17 in front of Congress, where more than 60 organizations called to participate in the First National March against Gynecology and Neonatal Violence to make the problem visible and ask that the bills that seek to change the care paradigm be treated. The mobilization is within the framework of the Week of Respected Childbirth that is celebrated in the world.
"In Argentina, despite having Law 25,929 on Humanized Childbirth, which since 2004 lists the rights of women and pregnant people, their babies and families during pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum, 90% of women and pregnant people suffer obstetric violence," denounce from the organization "My birth, my decision", one of the conveners.
That law, enacted in 2004 but not regulated until 2015, allowed many more women to dare to denounce the practices of obstetric violence. However, almost a decade later, women who suffer from it report numerous obstacles to accessing humanized childbirth.
"Gynecoobstetric violence is one of the most invisible and naturalized forms of gender violence," Lujan Arcidiácono, political scientist, doula and activist, coordinator of the National Campaign against Gynecology-Obstetric Violence, told Clarín. In that sense, he pointed out that the concept is still under construction, because it is understood that it includes not only the process of gestation, but "the entire approach to gynecoobstetric processes, starting with the first gynecological consultations to what happens in menopause."
The red scarves of the National Campaign against Obstetric Violence.
Today, the health system "is very authoritarian, paternalistic, where the decisions of the users are permanently protected, understanding that these people cannot decide because they do not know or do not understand," Arcidiácono defines and added that "although in the legal framework it is very clear that we have rights at the cultural level, it is still deeply rooted, they are cases that are not seen, they are covered."
In this regard, he pointed out that although the Campaign is demanding the treatment in Congress of a set of projects that expand and protect the rights of women and girls, it is also understood that "with the laws it is not enough." "We need a social demand for change and that's why this march is so important," he said.
At the end of 2022, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned the Argentine State for the death of a woman, a victim of obstetric violence and urged it to take measures that contribute to preventing this type of violence.
This is the case of Cristina Brítez Arce, a woman who died in 1992 when she was 40 weeks pregnant, and spent two hours in the Sardá Maternity Hospital, being induced to labor despite the fact that it had been confirmed that her baby was dead. He died of cardiac arrest while waiting.
"Join the red tide" against gynecoobstetric and neonatal violence. Photo: call
Feminist organizations and activists gather signatures to demand that the ruling be complied with, which includes a public campaign to raise awareness about how treatment should be during a pregnancy and economic reparation to the family.
It also supports the claim of Justice of a group of six women from Morón who heads a collective complaint for obstetric gynecology medical violence suffered in the Municipal Hospital of Morón "Ostaciana B de Lavignolle" between 2016 and 2019, they demand that the criminal complaint advance and await results of the administrative summary initiated by the municipality.
The women also demand the "immediate removal from office of the Head of the Tocogynecology Service, who continues in the exercise of her functions."
What is obstetric violence?
Obstetric violence is a type of gender-based violence that can affect women and their children during pregnancy, childbirth and even postpartum, as understood by the United Nations, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Argentine law.
It is defined as "that exercised by health personnel on the body and reproductive processes of women, expressed in dehumanized treatment, abuse of medicalization and pathologization of natural processes," according to Law No. 26,485 on the Integral Protection of Women.
From the National Campaign against gynecoobstetric violence "My birth, My decision", they defined that the mobilization aims to "claim sovereignty, the freedom to decide; it is to demand that we be respected, that we are not touched, cut, mutilated or medicated without consent; it is to be able to be accompanied by the people we choose; It's that they don't separate us from our babies unnecessarily."
And they add: "In short, we talk about access to health in a safe and dignified way. Not only in childbirth, but also in the process of abortion, gestational losses and perinatal death. And also, it is to defend those who come into this world because abuse and unnecessary interventions are common in the care of newborn babies."
Obstetric violence can be reported to the Office of the Ombudsman of the Nation, the National Coordinating Commission for Actions for the Elaboration of Sanctions for Gender Violence (CONSAVIG) or request information from the National Campaign against Obstetric Violence: @miparto.midecision on Instagram or email: miparto.midecisionarg@gmail.com.
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