The Canadian government says it is urgently trying to end the forced sterilization of Indigenous women, describing the practice as a human rights violation and a prosecutable offense. Yet police say they will not pursue a criminal investigation into a recent case in which a doctor apologized for his “unprofessional conduct” in sterilizing an Inuit woman.

In July, The Associated Press reported on the case of an Inuit woman in Yellowknife who had surgery in 2019 aimed at relieving her abdominal pain. The obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Andrew Kotaska, did not have the woman’s consent to sterilize her, and he did so over the objections of other medical personnel in the operating room. She is now suing him.

“This is a pivotal case for Canada because it shows that forced sterilization is still happening,” said Dr. Unjali Malhotra, of the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia. “It’s time that it be treated as a crime.”

  • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I agree with everything you say here, but I’m curious why you don’t think it applies to most of the eastern hemisphere, as well. This isn’t unique behavior for some small region or point in time.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      It does apply to most of the eastern hemisphere, but I didn’t feel like listing off exceptions and instead chose to focus on the wave of colonialism that is the American continent cluster