Obstetric violence and human development: knowledge, power and agency in Colombian women’s birth stories
Obstetric violence was first described in Latin America, consisting of violence perpetrated mainly by health workers against women during pregnancy, birth or postpartum. It affects women worldwide and represents a challenge for human development, as it negatively affects women’s health and rights. T...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2018 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Institución: | Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) |
| Repositorio: | Revista Guaju |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/57866 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://revistas.ufpr.br/guaju/article/view/57866 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Obstetric violence human development birth violence against women |
| Sumario: | Obstetric violence was first described in Latin America, consisting of violence perpetrated mainly by health workers against women during pregnancy, birth or postpartum. It affects women worldwide and represents a challenge for human development, as it negatively affects women’s health and rights. This study reflects on the experiences of obstetric violence of a group of Colombian women, bringing visibility to their experiences and analyzing the language they use as a way to understand the issues underpinning these narratives. We adopted qualitative research with in-depth interviews and analyzed the narratives using discourse analysis. This research highlighted: 1) the women’s point of view; despite not being aware of the term “obstetric violence,” their experiences fit into this category that is often naturalized; 2) a hierarchy of knowledge with the biomedical model as authoritative, in which health professionals do not give adequate weight to women’s experiences or knowledge; 3) the relations between obstetric violence and human development, considering women’s (dis)empowerment and the limitations that these abuses imply for women’s freedom and agency. |
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