Senator’s report points to continued systemic discrimination
Many Canadians are aware of Canada’s historically inequitable treatment of Indigenous peoples. The mention of residential schools conjures up a dark time in Canada’s past when Indigenous children were forced to assimilate to Euro-Canadian culture at “schools” where physical and sexual abuse was normalized. However, the mistreatment and oppression of Indigenous peoples in Canada may not be as far back in Canada’s past as we would like to think.
A July 2017 report by Senator Yvonne Boyer, a Métis lawyer and former nurse, and Dr. Judith Bartlett, a Métis physician and researcher, shows that forced and coerced sterilization of Indigenous women has happened in Canada as recently as 2014. The report describes how Indigenous women in the Saskatoon Health Region were sterilized through the severing, burning, or tying of their fallopian tubes after childbirth.
According to Amnesty International Canada’s website, “‘sterilization under coercion’ is when people give their consent for the procedure, but on the basis of incorrect information[…] or other coercive tactics such as intimidation or that conditions are attached to sterilization, such as financial incentives or access to health services.” For example, if the permanency of the sterilization is misrepresented by the medical professionals carrying out the procedure, consent cannot be considered fully informed. According to Dr. Boyer’s report, in many of the cases, the consent was compromised in some way. For example, some women were under anaesthesia when asked to give consent, and others were forced into agreement while still in labour.
Since Dr. Boyer released the report, more Indigenous women have come forward. In fact, at least 60 Indigenous women are seeking compensation from various Canadian healthcare providers for forced or coerced sterilization through a lawsuit filed in 2017 by Maurice Law Barristers & Solicitors. These healthcare providers include the federal government, the Saskatchewan government, and individual medical professionals. The main concern of the lawsuit is whether informed consent was obtained prior to sterilization.
Although the report was released in 2017, the issue is currently gaining attention because both Maurice Law and Amnesty International tabled reports on the matter last week at the 65th session of the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT). The CAT is taking place from Nov. 12 to Dec.7, 2018, and the committee heard from Canadian delegations on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22.
In its report to CAT, Maurice Law suggested that forced sterilization should be criminalized, and that the federal government provide health professionals training on what constitutes proper and informed consent. Similarly, in their report, Amnesty International called for the federal government to investigate the allegations of forced or coerced sterilizations of Indigenous women and girls in Canada, and to develop a National Action Plan to prevent gender-based violence against Indigenous women in Canada.
In the same vein, Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott told the Canadian Press “the issue of forced sterilization of vulnerable people, including Indigenous women, is a very serious violation of human rights.” According to Amnesty International, forced and coerced sterilizations are a form of gender-based violence and torture, and they violate the rights to equality, non-discrimination, physical integrity, health, and security.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons