The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women agreed with her and urged Spain to adopt measures to eradicate obstetric violence.
We found post-traumatic symptoms, caused both by the experience of profound helplessness during childbirth, and by the lack of recognition from health and judicial institutions for more than 10 years
She and her lawyer began with a complaint against the Basque Country's health service, later moving on to the administrative courts, the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country, and the Constitutional Court. It was in 2022 that the CEDAW The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women agrees with her and points out that throughout the process, the woman and her lawyer encountered “gender stereotypes and discrimination”.
It was during this period that, in addition to the violence she suffered during childbirth, she also endured the impact of having demanded justice for over 10 years in Spain, without being heard or acknowledged. “During the legal process in Spain, it was asserted that the doctor decided whether to perform a cesarean section and that the psychological damage she suffered was simply a matter of perception,” says lawyer Francisca Fernández Guillén in an interview. eldiario.es.
As expert witnesses, and at the request of her lawyer, the Sira Center examined Nahia Alkorta's case to assess her current condition, her psychological and moral damages, and to determine the impact of the justice system's dysfunction on her life plans, within the context of her career in demanding accountability from the State. Currently, following a CEDAW request, Nahia is involved in a new legal process to seek redress from the Administration.
Obstetric violence suffered during childbirth
During her first delivery, Nahia reports having suffered (1) excessive vaginal examinations during her dilation process; (2) her labor was induced without explanation; and (3) during labor, the doctors decided to perform a cesarean section without considering the couple's requests to wait for labor to progress naturally. According to her account, they were never informed about the risks of the intervention.
The woman also alleges that her cesarean section was performed by (4) trainees, without any informed consent, and that once her son was born, he was (5) separated from her, even though there was no maternal or infant reason to justify it. (6) The baby is being bottle-fed, despite the family having expressed their intention to breastfeed. The mother's repeated requests to have her son released to her are ignored by the hospital staff.