Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Indigenous Women
Indigenous people have an ugly and traumatizing history with Canada, from genocide, to “residential schools,” to the both casual and violent racism within this country. Due to this racism, ignorance, and the active choice to not include this within school lessons and media, there is an issue many are not aware of; forced sterilization of Indigenous Women.
What is Forced Sterilization?
Forced sterilization is the act of permanently sterilizing a person through hysterectomies and tubal ligation (commonly known as “tying the tubes,”) without their informed, prior, full, and free consent. It is an act of eugenics. It is biological and cultural genocide. It was, and still is, an attempt to eradicate Indigenous people, as our women can never reproduce once the procedure is done.
Starting in the late 20’s, and ending in the 1970’s, Alberta and British Columbia had a law that required the forced and coerced sterilization of those that were considered “mentally unfit.” This definition included Indigenous Women, as well as other marginalized groups due to the racist ideology that the White and Christian way of being was superior. Though Alberta and British Columbia were the only provinces to have this law, this practice took place throughout Canada. In Ontario, 61 of these forced sterilizations have been conducted in the Sioux Lookout hospital, and 147 have been conducted in Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory.
Despite this horrific practice becoming illegal around 50 years ago, over 100 women from Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, have come forward and said that they have gone through forced sterilizations, the most recent statement being from 2019.
A government report reveals an experience in 2001, from a Cree woman who had given birth to her sixth child in Saskatoon. Soon after she gave birth, she had been given consent forms for her own sterilization. She tried to wheel herself away from the operating room, but the doctor had brought her back in. She kept asking if the doctor was done, and once completed, he said, “Yes. Cut, tied, burnt. There, nothing is getting through that.”
Sterilization of Indigenous girls in Social Services
In May of 2021, Breen Oullette, a lawyer from British Columbia, stated that Indigenous girls, some being younger than 10, were forced by social workers to have IUDs inserted. Oullette states that at least one girl had an IUD inserted to prevent “possible pregnancy” because she had a risk of being raped while in foster care.
As more stories and experiences come to light, we need to educate ourselves on Canada’s history. We need to challenge what we see, read, and hear within school, media, and the real world. We need to remember who is writing these stories, and who they choose to be the heroes in them. We need to stand with and believe in survivors.
We need to shout for those who have been silenced.
Sources:
www.citynews1130.com/2021/05/21/bc-indigenous-children-iud-forced/
globalnews.ca/news/7920118/indigenous-women-sterilization-senate-report/
hir.harvard.edu/coerced-sterilization-of-indigenous-women-in-canada/
www.aptnnews.ca/facetoface/forced-sterilization-a-symptom-of-colonial-hangover-says-lawyer/
