The Dangers of Minimizing Obstetric Violence

This commentary is a response to the article by Lappaman and Swartz, “How gentle must violence against women be in order not to be violent?” in which the term “obstetric violence” is critiqued. The authors argue that the term is harmful and does violence (to health care workers and even birthers themselves) and is not helpful to efforts to improve or reform maternity care. They suggest that we abandon the term and use less inflammatory descriptions (i.e., such as “mistreatment”) instead. While recognizing the inevitable risks involved in naming and writing about obstetric violence, I argue that these risks are necessary in the interests of struggling against unjust systems. I unpack the authors' critique and argue that it ultimately works to minimize experiences of obstetric violence, silence the voices of those that have been speaking out on this issue for a very long time, and casts doubt on the legitimacy of a concept that has only recently received global recognition (after a long and transnational struggle). These harms and dangers are not necessarily the direct intentions of the authors but are embedded in wider structures of power that are often incredulous, disbelieving, and dismissive in the face of testimonies and evidence of gendered and racialized pain/violence.