Bodies, Stereotypes, and Reproduction

Black Migrants Experiencing Obstetric Violence and Racism in Portugal

Bibliographic Data

ID20102502
AuthorsCatarina Barata (0000-0002-6478-8007, Institute of Social Sciences, corresponding author), Chiara Pussetti (Institute of Social Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume128
Issue3
Pages558-571
Publication date2026-06-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Anthropologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7294 • E-ISSN: 1548-1433
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/aman.70094
OpenAlexW7165734712
LanguageEN
References cited45

This article explores how the mistreatment of women in health care facilities in Portugal takes on particular forms for Black migrant women, shaped by essentialist ideas about race and miscegenation. In line with academic production on processes of racialization and discrimination against minorities and the medicalization of reproductive processes and biocontrol, this paper focuses on how these phenomena are reflected in the gynecological and obstetric care of Black women of Brazilian and African origin in Portugal. The women interviewed within the authors’ research on the ethnopolitics of citizenship and on obstetric violence speak of discrimination based on their ethno‐racial, national, and migration status, as well as perceived ideas about their sexuality, behavior, and preferences in maternity and childbirth. Afro‐descendant women's interactions with workers of the health and social care sectors in Portugal are often informed by stereotypes about their bodies and their presumed (in)capacities to be good mothers. By focusing on the experiences of Black migrant women and their perceptions of public health and maternal care, this paper builds on previous work by the authors to address the issue of gynecological and obstetric violence in Portugal

Citizenship · Essentialism · Health care · Medicalization · Perception · Race (biology) · Racialization · Racism · Sex work · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Identity, and Health

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