Abstract

COSTA, Karla Adriana Oliveira da et al. Obstetric racism in Portugal: Experience report of an anti-racist collective. Forum Sociológico [online]. 2022, n.41, pp.7-14.  Epub Dec 30, 2022. ISSN 0872-8380.  https://doi.org/10.4000/sociologico.10673.

Obstetric violence is a gender violence, which has racism as an overlay, making Black women more vulnerable. In Portugal, this reality remains silenced behind the myth of social equality disseminated post-colonial period. The bodies of these women in the obstetric scenario in the country, bring us the need to address issues of body-race-health articulated with the feminist and Black movements. This article is based on a theoretical approach sustained in post-colonial and feminist studies, with a sociological perspective. For its methodology, this article shares the actions of a collective of antiracist women acting from an intersectional perspective, using the methodological technique of the experience report. The main results of this study point to the pertinence of developing intersectional sociological research on the reproductive health experiences of racialized women in Portugal and the importance of social movements to conduct such work. The collective Saúde das Mães Negras (SaMaNe) through four fronts brings to social, political, and academic debate the experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum of black and afro-descendant women in Portugal. In conclusion, there is a need to deepen the debate on oppression and racial inequalities in obstetric care, and this article also intends to break the silence around the theme and transform it into action.

Keywords : social movements; racism; maternal health; obstetric violence.

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