Obstetric Violence from the Perspective of Everyday Bioethics

Obstetric violence is a phenomenon of growing interest on a global scale. Despite the fact that both the study of this phenomenon and efforts to counter it undeniably fall within the domain of bioethics, our community has not paid due attention to it. In this chapter, I engage with the epistemic debate around the definition of obstetric violence itself, in light of the evidence provided by the available literature and the first protection tools that have emerged at the legislative and soft-law level. Afterwards, I highlight the factors that may have fueled the disinterest of bioethics towards obstetric violence. Finally, I focus on some key elements that I deem essential to build a perspective of everyday bioethics, so as to stimulate further research and contrast obstetric violence in routine practice