Your Pregnancy May Subject You to Even More Law Enforcement Violence

[marmar]

Your Pregnancy May Subject You to Even More Law Enforcement Violence

Thursday, 23 April 2015 09:20
By Victoria Law, Truthout | Report


As calls to end police violence swept the nation during the summer of 2014, the New York City Police Department demonstrated that pregnancy is no protection against brutality. Sandra Amezquita was five months pregnant when police threw her, belly first, onto the ground. An officer straddled her body, adding his weight to the pressure, before handcuffing and arresting her. Her offense? Trying to stop them from harassing her 17-year-old son, who had been arrested for robbery the year before.

A member of El Grito de Sunset Park, a neighborhood police watchdog group, recorded the entire event and posted it online. The video sparked outcry and local protests, drawing attention to the fact that women - even women who are visibly pregnant - are not immune to police violence. That same summer, Idaho police shot and killed Jeanetta Riley, a pregnant mother of three who pulled a knife on her husband when he attempted to take her to the hospital after she had threatened suicide.

But for pregnant women, law enforcement violence isn't limited to physical brutality. Police and other law enforcement frequently subject pregnant women to other, less visible forms of violence. For instance, in many precincts and jails, pregnant women are subject to inhumane practices such as shackling or the denial of food, clothing and medical care. But in many states, if a woman subjects herself and her fetus to such practices, she risks criminalization and arrest, often on charges such as child endangerment, child abuse or fetal homicide. Both the criminalization of pregnancy and the arrests of pregnant women constitute their own forms of police violence, but are often overlooked by much of the larger organizing movements against police violence sweeping the country after the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. But they are no less torturous and brutal than the violence being protested on the streets nationwide.

The violence that Jessica Venegas experienced was not the same physical brutality that the New York City Police Department inflicted on Sandra Amezquita. Instead, the violence and pain were inflicted by police protocol - or, in some cases, lack of protocol - as well as a lack of regard for her pregnancy and overall well-being. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30363-your-pregnancy-may-subject-you-to-even-more-law-enforcement-violence