THE DARK HISTORY OF NON-CONSENSUAL STERILIZATION OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN CANADA

Abstract

Forced or coerced sterilization is performed without a person’s free, prior, full, and informed consent. This violates multiple human rights, autonomy, informed consent and is an act of gender-based violence. This research examines the implications of non-consensual sterilization, focusing on its impact on Indigenous women in Canada. This article highlights the gaps in protections for Indigenous women’s reproductive autonomy. It also assesses government responses and explores potential legal reforms and policy measures to ensure justice for survivors and prevent future violations. Human rights provisions make an individual’s informed consent a precondition to the legality of sterilization. Non-consensual sterilization may take the form of forced or coerced sterilization.  Non-consensual in the form of forced or coerced sterilization is a surgical procedure to prevent conception, performed without a patient’s free, prior, and informed consent. There is historical evidence of forced or coerced sterilization in Canada.  This is a dark chapter in Canadian history, marked by the violation of individuals' reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. In the past, some provinces in Canada enacted laws to forcibly sterilize women deemed unfit to procreate. The practice of sterilization rose out of the eugenics movement and has a long-hidden history in Canada.  Alberta and British Columbia had laws requiring the sterilization of people considered mentally defective. These laws existed until 1972 and 1973 respectively. There have been reports of forced or coerced sterilization in Canadian hospitals as recently as 2019. Indigenous women and persons deemed mentally defective were disproportionally targeted.  Apart from affecting the reproductive rights of women, forced sterilization also violates the right to autonomy and informed consent and human rights, especially the right to liberty and dignity. Courts and various international organizations have condemned and frowned at the forced sterilization of women, but unfortunately, this has not brought forced sterilization to an end. There is a need to move beyond human rights remedies to hold perpetrators of non-consensual sterilization accountable and criminally liable for non-consensual sterilization in Canada. Senator Yvonne Boyer on June 14, 2022, introduced Bill S-250, An Act to amend the Criminal Code regarding sterilization procedures and the criminalization of non-consensual sterilization in Canada. This research aims to contribute to the broader discourse on reproductive justice for Indigenous women and offer pathways for strengthening reproductive rights protections in Canada.Patients are autonomous individuals with the right to make medical decisions.