Canada: forced sterilisation of indigenous women

Written by David Fletcher 21 Dec 2018
Canada: forced sterilisation of indigenous women

In 2017 two indigenous women alleged that they were coerced into undergoing sterilisation at a Saskatchewan hospital. More than sixty women have now joined them in a pending class action lawsuit, seeking compensation for the violation of their rights, supported by Amnesty International (see). The legal challenge centres on whether proper and informed consent was obtained before the women were sterilised. One woman said she explicitly refused to have her fallopian tubes tied when staff suggested the procedure after the birth of her son. On 7 December the UN officially called on Canada to ‘ensure that all allegations of forced or coerced sterilisation are impartially investigated, and the persons responsible held accountable with adequate redress for the victims’. Pray for policies and accountability mechanisms across all provinces to ensure there are clear regulations around free will, and informed consent.

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