Forced migration and reproductive rights: Pregnant women fleeing Venezuela

Abstract

Numerous pregnant Venezuelan women have fled Venezuela, given the health system crisis that has increased risk to their lives and their children. Thousands of them have arrived in Colombia in search of reproductive health care. Notwithstanding Colombia’s government efforts to provide some relief measures to the massive influx of Venezuelan migrants, pregnant women are not receiving the prenatal and postnatal care they need. One of the primary barriers to health care access is their immigration status and the health system structure regarding migrants. Therefore, this paper studies Colombia’s international human rights obligations concerning their immigration status and the right to reproductive health to conclude that government measures have been insufficient to meet these obligations.

Keywords

• forced migration
• reproductive rights
• pregnant Venezuelan women
• women refugees
• Venezuelan migrants