Obstetrical Violence at the Time of COVID-19: a new form of gender-based violence?

• In Event: WCCJ Panel 2 – Mothers, Motherhood and Criminal Justice

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the widespread yet under-explored phenomenon of obstetric violence by restricting women's rights to health and reproductive health through policies and laws whose stated purpose was to address the health emergency (Yakovi Gan-Or, 2020). The escalation of mistreatment and abuse of pregnant women around the world has brought the phenomenon into sharper focus. This presentation aims to investigate from an exquisitely criminological point of view the salient aspects that marked obstetrical violence, starting from a legal and sociological framing of the phenomenon.Key words: obstetrical violence, birth solo, pregnant women, Covid-19, pandemic

Authors

• Palmina Caruso, University of Milan

• Emma Flutti, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele

• Giulia Moretti, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele

• Federico Pacchioni, Vita-Salute S. Raffaele University

• Carolina Passani, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele

• Guido Travaini, Vita-Salute S. Raffaele University