In August 2011, the United
Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
issued a ruling on the case of Alyne da Silva Pimetel v. Brazil, a poor Afro-Brazilian
woman who was repeatedly denied quality medical care which resulted in her
untimely death from what was a treatable pregnancy complication. CEDAW’s
decision, which held Brazil entirely accountable, sent out a powerful message that
the government must guarantee maternal health services to every woman, regardless
of her socio-economic circumstances.  Although this was a landmark decision whereby maternal mortality was officially declared a violation of human rights, the real work had only just begun.  

This ruling offered some respite
and justice to her family as well as raised awareness of the issue, however, to
date, Brazil has done very little to amend their policies in order to prevent
further maternal deaths of those women who do not have the means to access
expensive healthcare. Whilst Brazil has statistically reduced its number of maternal
deaths, these numbers only reflect the more privileged women in society. The government
has done very little to address the needs of pregnant women who are poor,
rural, and/or of African descent. These are the women whose rights are being
ignored and who have a much harder time accessing care than other wealthier
Brazilians.

It has been 10 years since the
death of Alyne, and still her family, including her daughter have not received any
kind of compensation for the violation against Alyne’s human rights, even after
CEDAW demanded that the government make reparations.

There is pressure on Brazil to act now to reaffirm why they signed up to CEDAW and
show the world that they are serious about women’s rights. They have a
responsibility, as all governments do, to the welfare and rights of women and
they need to display their commitment to CEDAW and acknowledge the importance of
the issue. 

To read the first article on Alyne’s case, click here.

To learn about what SI is doing to decrease maternal mortality and morbidity in Papua New Guinea, click here.