"I wish my mom was here": An Autoethnographic Account of Obstetric Violence in Mexican Healthcare Services

Authors

  • Estefanía Díaz Autonomous University of Aguascalientes

Keywords:

abortion, autoethnography, obstetric violence, reproductive

Abstract

This article offers an account of obstetric violence in abortion procedures within the Mexican health-care system. Through autoethnography, the author narrates and analyzes personal experience to identify the social and political implications, as well as the intersections of gender and class present in state-funded abortion care. The importance of the topic stems from the emergence and strengthening of the feminist struggle to conquer reproductive rights both in Mexico and in other countries throughout Latin America. As a result of the autoethnographic writing, the article discusses the tension where decriminalization of abortion—an important goal for the feminist movement—doesn’t ensure that women can undergo this procedure in conditions free of violence, since abortion stigma might still prevail.

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Author Biography

Estefanía Díaz, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes

Estefanía Díaz is a professor and research assistant in the Department of Sociology and the Department of Communication at the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Primary Education and a Master’s Degree in Social and Humanistic Research. Her research interests include childhood studies, reproductive justice, and qualitative research methods.

References

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Published

2022-04-19

Issue

Vol. 43 No. 1 (2022): "Mis/classification: Identity-based Inequities in the Canadian and Global Post-secondary Context" and Open-themed

Section

Open-themed Original Research

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Copyright (c) 2022 Estefanía Díaz

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