“Obstetric violence”. Notes on a controversial issue

The paper analyzes the “obstetric violence”, a neglected but frequent form of violence against women. The obstetric violence is a severe violation of human rights, such as right to information, right to healthcare, right to reproductive autonomy, right not to suffer discrimination. The paper shows that high rates of medical interventions and disrespect for women during the childbirth may be the consequences of the interaction between institutional violence and gender violence. The paper also addresses the following issue: what is the role of the society in buffering obstetric violence?