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Sterilization in Canada ‘widespread’
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The coercive sterilization of indigenous women in Canadian health centers during the 1970s was more widespread than previously believed, with impoverished communities in the north disproportionately targeted, a researcher has found.
The Canadian government was often aware of the problem, but did not act to stop it, said Karen Stote, a women’s studies professor at Waterloo, Ontario-based Wilfrid Laurier University who conducted archival research for a recently released study.
Historical documents do not say how many of the nearly 1,200 sterilization cases, including more than 550 at federally operated “Indian” hospitals between 1971 and 1974, were undertaken by force or fraud, but evidence suggests coercion was widespread, Stote said.
“Consent forms (for sterilizations) were not translated into indigenous languages, people weren’t necessarily understanding what was happening in the doctor’s office,” Stote said.
“In some areas, they (doctors working for the government) were promoting birth control to reduce the size of indigenous communities,” she said, calling the sterilizations a symptom of broader colonialism.
Stote’s study “An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and Sterilization of Aboriginal Women” is not the first to document the practice, but her research suggests the problem was more widespread than previously thought. Alberta province has apologized and paid compensation for past sterilization campaigns on people considered mentally challenged and other disadvantaged groups.
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