Obstetric violence in Europe
The study Obstetric violence in the European Union: Situational analysis and policy recommendations published by the Scientific Analysis and Advice on Gender Equality in the EU (SAAGE) project provides an overview of obstetric violence in EU member states.
The SAAGE project is coordinated by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and funded by the European Commission with the aim to contribute to improving gender equality policies in the EU, and to raise awareness and promote action on gender equality in EU member states.
Coordinated by Patrizia Quattrocchi, medical anthropology expert, the study has the objective to inform the European Commission on the issue of obstetric violence in the European Union, and to contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon, as well as of current responses to it.
The research has been "undertaken in the context of growing public awareness of and concern about the issue, an established imperative for quality care at childbirth, and an understanding of obstetric violence as a violation of human rights and a form of gender-based violence and institutional violence", the study states.
The study was published together with another report focused on four case studies on obstetric violence, undertaken in the third quarter of 2022 by national experts in four different European countries: France (Virginie Rozée and Clémence Schantz), the Netherlands (Rodante van der Waal and Marit van der Pijl), the Slovak Republic (Barbora Holubová) and Spain (Stella Villarmea and Adela Recio Alcaide).
