When society hears about sterilization most people tend to think: women choosing to opt out from bearing future children. What if this wasn’t always the case and these women were not really ‘opting out’? Forced Sterilization is a global problem, yes in the United States as well!

Sterilization became popular in Europe during World War II. Influenced by eugenics, it was believed that the human race could be controlled by doing so.

According to an article by Anastasia Moloney from Reuters, in Peru nearly 350,000 men and women were tricked and forced into a forced sterilization program. Many indigenous people were waking up with abortions, hysterectomies, and vasectomies all funded by their government.

Forced sterilization has been around in the U.S. since 1895. The state of Connecticut passed a law against marriage so that women may stop reproducing. This law targeted women who were deemed “unfit”, meaning mentally deficient, deaf, blind, minorities, and poor. In the U.S., it is still common for prisons to tie a woman’s Fallopian tubes therefore restricting her from having children. Mind you, these were prisons in California.

These victims were robbed their rights and lives. The women in Peru who were victims of these horrid crimes were young and unfortunately as a result, were never able to find a husband. The women who could not bear children were seen as unattractive.

This illegal procedure can be dangerous if not done sanitarily or properly and many victims died.

So this March, in respect to Women’s Awareness Month, spread the word. For many of you, this may be new news. If you feel the need to change this injustice, you can do your part by educating and telling these women and men’s stories.

Although this is a global issue, we have to start somewhere. It is an individuals right to choose whether or not they would like to bear children. Everyone should have control of their bodies, not  just men or the government! This is why it is important for places like Planned Parenthood to stay active and allow those rights.