A session of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on May 13, 2022. IACHR
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights made the Argentine government responsible for this Wednesday obstetric violence in the case of Cristina Brítez Arce, who was 40 weeks pregnant at the time of her death. In the landmark ruling at the regional level, the court calls on the South American country to launch a campaign to prevent this type of violence against women and to make the rights of pregnant women visible.
For the court, the Argentine state violated the right to life, personal integrity and health of this 38-year-old woman who died on June 1, 1992 in the Ramón Sardá public maternity hospital in Buenos Aires. The judges also considered that her pregnancy presented risk factors that were not adequately addressed by Argentina’s healthcare system.
Brítez Arce went to the hospital with a fever and low back problems related to her pregnancy. When the professionals on duty performed an ultrasound, they determined the fetus was dead and admitted her to induce labour. On the same day, at six o’clock in the evening, the pregnant woman died of “non-traumatic cardiac arrest”.
“States have an obligation to provide adequate, specialized and differentiated health services during pregnancy, childbirth and within a reasonable time after childbirth to ensure the mother’s right to health and to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity.[…] If a state does not take the appropriate measures to prevent maternal mortality, this affects the right to life of pregnant women and women in the postpartum period,” said the I/A Court of HR in the judgment served on the parties on Wednesday.
For the international court, Brítez Arce did not receive the necessary medical treatment, nor did he have complete information about possible treatment alternatives and their effects. On the contrary, she may have been subjected to obstetric violence that put her at risk of resulting in her death.”
“historic decision”
“It is the first time that the Court has recognized in a contentious case that obstetric violence is a form of gender-based violence and that it is prohibited in inter-American human rights treaties,” said Catalina Martínez Coral, regional director of the EL PAÍS Center of Reproductive Rights for Latin America and the caribbean “This is a historic and very important decision for all states in the region,” adds Martínez Coral.
The Inter-American Court ordered remedial measures such as payment for material and moral damage and guarantees of non-recurrence. Argentina has acknowledged its responsibility in the case, but the ruling also directs it to design an outreach campaign aimed at making pregnancy, childbirth and childbirth rights visible and preventing obstetric violence.
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS America newsletter here and receive all the latest news from the region.