Decades after many other rich countries stopped forcibly sterilizing Indigenous women, numerous activists, doctors, politicians and at least five class-action lawsuits say the practice has not ended in Canada.
A Senate report last year concluded SA国际影视传媒渢his horrific practice is not confined to the past, but clearly is continuing today.SA国际影视传媒� In May, a doctor was penalized for forcibly sterilizing an Indigenous woman in 2019.
Indigenous leaders say the country has yet to fully reckon with its troubled colonial past SA国际影视传媒� or put a stop to a decades-long practice that is considered a type of genocide.
There are no solid estimates on how many women are still being sterilized against their will or without their knowledge, but Indigenous experts say they regularly hear complaints about it. Sen. Yvonne Boyer, whose office is collecting the limited data available, says at least 12,000 women have been affected since the 1970s.
SA国际影视传媒淲henever I speak to an Indigenous community, I am swamped with women telling me that forced sterilization happened to them,SA国际影视传媒� Boyer, who has Indigenous Metis heritage, told The Associated Press (AP).
Medical authorities in the Northwest Territories issued a series of punishments in May in what may be the first time a doctor has been sanctioned for forcibly sterilizing an Indigenous woman, according to documents obtained by the AP.
The case involves Dr. Andrew Kotaska, who performed an operation to relieve an Indigenous womanSA国际影视传媒檚 abdominal pain in November 2019. He had her written consent to remove her right fallopian tube, but the patient, an Inuk woman, had not agreed to the removal of her left tube losing both would leave her sterile.
Despite objections from other medical staff during the surgery, Kotaska took out both fallopian tubes.
The investigation concluded there was no medical justification for the sterilization, and Kotaska was found to have engaged in unprofessional conduct. KotaskaSA国际影视传媒檚 SA国际影视传媒渟evere error in surgical judgmentSA国际影视传媒� was unethical, cost the patient the chance to have more children and could undermine trust in the medical system, investigators said.
The case was likely not exceptional.
Thousands of Indigenous Canadian women over the past seven decades were coercively sterilized, in line with eugenics legislation that deemed them inferior.
Gerri Sharpe, president of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, said health centers serving Inuit women often arenSA国际影视传媒檛 staffed by Indigenous people, resulting in translation problems. For example, in Inuit culture, people often communicate with facial expressions, like raising their eyebrows for SA国际影视传媒測esSA国际影视传媒� or wrinkling their nose for SA国际影视传媒渘o.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淒octors will be speaking, and they look to the woman to acknowledge something. When she (raises her eyebrows), the doctor labels it as `non-responsive,SA国际影视传媒漇A国际影视传媒� Sharpe said.
Dr. Ewan Affleck, who made a 2021 film, SA国际影视传媒� The Unforgotten,SA国际影视传媒� about the pervasive racism against CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 Indigenous people, said the way forced sterilization happens now is more subtle than in the past. He noted an ongoing SA国际影视传媒減ower imbalanceSA国际影视传媒� in the countrySA国际影视传媒檚 health system. SA国际影视传媒淚f you have a white doctor saying to an Indigenous woman, `You should be sterilized,SA国际影视传媒� it may very likely happen,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
$6-million lawsuit
Kotaska, the ob-gyn who carried out the surgery that left an Indigenous woman sterile in 2019, was the president of the Northwest Territories Medical Association and held teaching positions at several Canadian universities.
Documents show an anesthetist and surgical nurse became alarmed when Kotaska said during the surgery to remove the womanSA国际影视传媒檚 right fallopian tube: SA国际影视传媒淟etSA国际影视传媒檚 see if I can find a reason to take the left tube as well.SA国际影视传媒�
Kotaska told investigators he was SA国际影视传媒渧oicing his thought process out loudSA国际影视传媒� that removing both tubes would lessen the womanSA国际影视传媒檚 pelvic pain, the documents say.
Describing KotaskaSA国际影视传媒檚 actions as SA国际影视传媒渁 violation of his ethical obligations,SA国际影视传媒� investigators suspended KotaskaSA国际影视传媒檚 medical licence for five months, ordered him to take an ethics course and reimburse the cost of the inquiry. The Northwest Territories health department said it was the first time a SA国际影视传媒渘on-consensual medical procedureSA国际影视传媒� had been referred for investigation.
The woman is suing Kotaska and hospital authorities for $6 million.
There was no suggestion in the documents that Kotaska was motivated by racism. Kotaska declined to comment to the AP.
The Canadian government would not comment on KotaskaSA国际影视传媒檚 actions but said forced sterilization is illegal and prosecutable under Canadian criminal law. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Northwest Territories said there is no criminal investigation into Kotaska.
SA国际影视传媒淧eople donSA国际影视传媒檛 want to believe things like this are happening in Canada, but cases like this explain why entire First Nations populations still feel unsafe,SA国际影视传媒� said Dr. Unjali Malhotra, medical officer of the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia.
SA国际影视传媒擝y Maria Cheng, The Associated Press
