Williams et al.: Obstetric Violence Legislation (BJOG, 2018)
7+ countries have laws against birth abuse. The US has none.
7+ countries have enacted specific obstetric violence legislation (Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Panama, Brazil, Uruguay, Costa Rica). The US has none.
Williams and colleagues published a review in BJOG covering the global landscape of obstetric violence legislation. Venezuela became the first country in 2007 to legally define and criminalize obstetric violence. Argentina followed in 2009.
Mexico, Bolivia, Panama, Brazil, Uruguay, and Costa Rica have similar laws on the books.
The laws vary in enforcement and reach, but they share a common structure: they define obstetric violence as a specific form of gender-based violence, list categories of behavior that qualify (forced interventions, denial of pain relief, verbal abuse), and provide a legal pathway for women to file complaints. No US state has comparable legislation. Federal law remains silent on the issue.
8+
Countries with legislation
2007
Venezuela, first to legislate
0
US states with equivalent law
0
US federal protection
Why it matters
The category exists in international law, and several countries treat birth abuse as a defined civil and sometimes criminal wrong. In US courts, there is no specific cause of action for it.
This is one finding from the research library behind How to Birth a Mother. Everything here traces back to a study, a dataset, or a systematic review.