Commentary on the Article “How Gentle Must Violence Against Women Be in Order to Not Be Violent? Rethinking the Word ‘Violence’ in Obstetric Settings,” Reframed Within a Critical Discourse Orientation

This commentary discusses the Swartz and Lappeman article asking us to rethink the word violence and its potential to “disempower the women that it is meant to empower.” The commentary examines the term violence through a critical lens that underscores the need for critical discourse analysis as a driver to deepening a widely somewhat antiquated definition of violence. It explores the enabling and constraining complexity of identity work associated with using the label of victim and suggests a more comprehensive approach that considers the linkages between intention, practices, structures, and context to foster a more transformative understanding of violence.