Roses Revolution is an international movement against obstetric violence, originally founded in Spain in 2011. It observes November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, additionally as "Roses Revolution Day". Women place roses in front of the delivery rooms or hospitals where they suffered varying forms of physical or psychological violence as a sign of protest.

A rose on Roses Revolution Day 2023 in front of Vienna General Hospital

Background

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The WHO maintains that "Every woman has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to dignified, respectful health care", but "many women experience disrespectful and abusive treatment during childbirth in facilities worldwide. Such treatment not only violates the rights of women to respectful care, but can also threaten their rights to life, health, bodily integrity, and freedom from discrimination." WHO therefore "calls for greater action, dialogue, research and advocacy on this important public health and human rights issue."[1] Roses Revolution is one of several initiatives worldwide against this form of violence.

Activities

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Roses Revolution designates the protest against abuse during childbirth as an additional aspect in connection with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, introduced in 1981 and an official UN awareness day since 2000. On Roses Revolution Day, women place roses outside hospitals and delivery rooms to protest against the physical or psychological violence they have experienced during childbirth, often including messages to pertinent physicians and midwives.[2]

Roses Revolution comments on the depositions of roses on social media like Facebook and Instagram. The aim is to raise awareness of traumatic experiences caused by the misconduct of medical staff during childbirth.[3] Support also includes other measures. For example, in 2021 Roses Revolution Luxembourg published a video on women who had suffered violence in both French and Luxembourgish.[4] Roses Revolution Hungary (Rózsák Forradalma) takes part in the regional activities of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.[5]

Founding and expansion

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Spanish birth activist Mara "Jesusa" Ricoy founded Roses Revolution as "La Revolución de las rosas" in 2011. At the third "Human Rights in Childbirth" conference in Blankenberge, Belgium on 4 November 2013, the movement was presented to international participants. Within three weeks, this led to action in Italy, France, Great Britain, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Brazil und Colombia. Finally, Roses Revolution became active in 30 countries.[6][7]

Recognition

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Roses Revolution is supported by the German National Committee of UN Women.[8] A 2019 United Nations report by Dubravka Šimonović, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, titled "A human rights-based approach to mistreatment and violence against women in reproductive health services with a focus on childbirth and obstetric violence" lists Roses Revolution as one of several initiatives globally.[9] The Austrian Ministry of health and social affairs lists Roses Revolution as a point of call for affected women in their report on women's health of 2022.[10]

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References

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  1. ^ "Prevention and elimination of disrespect and abuse during childbirth". 14 September 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Roses Against Violence". birthcultures.eu. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  3. ^ Sabine Flick, Franziska Marek, and Friederike M. Hesse (23 February 2022). "Cultures of birthing in transition". Ozs, Osterreichische Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie. 47 (1). National Library of Medicine: 1–8. doi:10.1007/s11614-022-00476-1. PMC 8864454. PMID 35221587.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Pleimelding, Shari (23 November 2021). "Gewalt bei der Gebuert: Sensibiliséierungsvideo vu Rose Revolution". moien-mental.lu (in Luxembourgish). Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Néma Tanúk – Mi a szülészeti erőszak?" [Silent Witnesses - What is obstetric violence?] (in Hungarian). EMMA Egyesület. 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  6. ^ scw (24 November 2017). ""Roses Revolution"" (in German). Luzerner Zeitung. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Roses Revolution - am 25. November 2023" (in German). gerechte-geburt.de. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Roses Revolution". unwomen.de (in German). UN Women Germany. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  9. ^ Šimonović, Dubravka (11 July 2019). "A human rights-based approach to mistreatment and violence against women in reproductive health services with a focus on childbirth and obstetric violence" (PDF). United Nations General Assembly. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Frauengesundheitsbericht 2022" [Women's Health Report 2022] (PDF) (in German). 2023. p. 95. Retrieved 2 February 2024.