The four Case Studies on the issue of obstetric violence in this volume were prepared to inform the development of a wider study on the topic, ‘Obstetric violence in the European Union: Situational analysis and policy recommendations’ by Patrizia Quattrocchi. This wider study was developed under the aegis of the SAAGE network, which draws together experts in gender equality to inform and support European Union level policy initiatives by providing expertise and knowledge on both relevant wide-ranging political issues and technical issues. The SAAGE network is coordinated by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini S.r.l. SB (FGB SRL SB), an Italian independent research centre. The general objective of the wider study is to inform the European Commission on the issue of obstetric violence in the European Union Member States and to contribute to the better understanding of this phenomenon and of current responses to the issue. It was undertaken in a context of growing public awareness of and concern about the issue, an established imperative for quality care at childbirth, and an understanding of obstetric violence as a violation of human rights and a form of gender-based violence and of institutional violence. Obstetrics is the medical discipline that deals with pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period. Obstetric violence has emerged as a concern in policy, research and debate. The Council of Europe has defined it in terms of: inappropriate or non-consensual acts, such as episiotomies and vaginal palpation carried out without consent, fundal pressure or painful interventions without anaesthetic and of sexist behaviour in the course of medical consultations.