Co-authors of perspectives piece in The Lancet expose colonial obstetric violence in Canada and call for implementation of Joyce's Principle

In their perspectives piece for “The Art of Medicine” section in the renown medical journal The Lancet, co-authors Alisa Lombard (Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa), Samir Shaheen-Hussain (School of Population and Global Health, McGill University) and Suzy Basile (School of Indigenous Studies, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue) expose the genocidal gender-based medical violence experienced by Indigenous birthing people in Quebec and Canada over the last century. In order to confront this obstetric violence, and medical colonialism more broadly, the co-authors call for the immediate implementation of Joyce’s Principle (established to honour Joyce Echaquan’s memory) as a way “to guarantee to all Indigenous people the right of equitable access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services, as well as the right to enjoy the best possible physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health”, while recognizing and respecting “Indigenous people’s traditional and living knowledge in all aspects of health”.

Publication information:
“Confronting medical colonialism and obstetric violence in Canada”, Lancet 2023; 401: 1763-65
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)01007-3/fulltext
(text available online upon embargo release at 6:30pm (EDT), on Thursday, May 25, 2023)