Eliminating abusive ‘ care ’ A criminal law response to obstetric violence in South Africa

SA Crime QuArterly No. 54 • DeC 2015 * Camilla Pickles is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Child Law, Department of Private Law, University of Pretoria. This article is inspired by recent legal developments in Latin America. In Venezuela, the Organic Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free from Violence (2007) recognises obstetric violence as a form of violence that health personnel inflict on pregnant and birthing people, and it imposes criminal liability for such conduct.1 Soon after the introduction of this law Mexico followed with similar laws.2 The laws prohibiting obstetric violence draw attention to the broader social inequalities faced by women and girls and which lead to unacceptable practices in their medical care while pregnant and birthing. The purpose of these laws is to curb abusive and dehumanising obstetric care and ensure accountability when certain standards of care are not maintained during pregnancy and birth. Curbing abusive and disrespectful treatment helps ensure healthy pregnancies and pregnancy outcomes. The article serves a two-fold purpose. Firstly, it seeks to introduce the concept of obstetric violence into the broader South African discussion on gender-based violence. It considers the origin and scope of obstetric violence, as developed through Latin American social movements and legal instruments. Going further, the article reveals how the term is being used by a body of commentators and activists beyond Latin America to describe a list of inappropriate practices that constitute obstetric violence. Secondly, the article draws on reports of abusive treatment of pregnant people at public health-care facilities in South Africa and argues that a criminal law response to violence against pregnant people in South Africa is necessary. Conduct identified as obstetric violence in foreign jurisdictions mirrors conduct in the South African health-care system. The article argues that criminalising obstetric violence in South African is an appropriate legal response, which should explicitly prohibit abusive obstetric care, drawing on a womancentred perspective. Camilla Pickles* [email protected]