A UN commission is calling on Spain to pay compensation to a woman who underwent a caesarean section without her consent. They even allegedly tied her hands.
The Spanish state must pay compensation to a woman who underwent a caesarean section without her consent after her hands were tied, a United Nations panel said today.
Madrid was found guilty of "obstetric violence" against the woman, who has not been named. According to her complaint, the doctors at the Donostia public hospital forced her to give birth prematurely, without her consent. They performed a C-section without her husband present and she was not immediately allowed to hold her newborn son because she was still bedridden.
Spain's Ministry of Health declined to comment on the case. It said only that a bill passed in May promotes "good practice" in childbirth through a series of guidelines.
According to APE-MPE, violence against women during childbirth is widespread, systematic and deeply rooted in health systems. It can cause physical and mental harm, according to the UN. However, such cases are rarely investigated.
One of the few investigated in the past, in 2020, again involved Spain. In 2004 Hungary was held responsible by the UN Commission for the forced sterilization of a woman following a miscarriage.
In the case of Donostia, the woman suffered physical and mental trauma, according to the Commission. In the Spanish court where she appealed, she was told that doctors are the ones who decide on caesareans and that her mental trauma is just "a matter of perception".
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) consists of 23 independent experts monitors whether member countries are complying with a 1979 Convention, which has been signed by 189 states to date.
