In her book An Act of Genocide, Karen Stote documents 580 sterilizations that took place in Indian hospitals between 1970 and 1975 across Canada. Records also indicate that, between 1966 and 1976, about 1,200 Indigenous women were sterilized and more than 70 sterilizations were performed on women in Nunavut. Data show that the Indigenous birth rate fell from 47 per 1,000 people in the 1960s to 28 per 1,000 people in 1980.

Some Indigenous women were led to believe the procedure (tubal ligation) was reversible or that they would still be able to have children in the future. Some have reported that child and family services threatened to take their children away if they did not consent to the procedure. In some cases where Indigenous women clearly denied consent, the procedure was nevertheless performed.

Before these acts were repealed in the 1970s, a eugenics board could order the sterilization of Indigenous women viewed as sexually promiscuous or “mentally defective” for fear of passing down “serious mental disease” or “mental deficiencies” to their children. In fact, the vast majority of Indigenous women (77%) in Alberta were sterilized during this time for being deemed unfit.

Surgeons who performed sterilizations believed they served the best interest of Indigenous Peoples, as a way of protecting Indigenous women from the burdens of larger families. The truth is this practice served as a means of population control, and a way to reduce costs associated with the implementation of necessary public health measures for Indigenous communities.

Population control policies have been enforced against Indigenous nations through various settler colonial policies and assimilation practices including, among others, the Indian Act, residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop. Forced or coerced sterilization is an invasive method of population control, which severs the ties between Indigenous women and future generations. By eliminating Indigenous women’s ability to procreate, it effectively reduces the number of those who can claim Indigenous identity, and consequently, the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the federal government’s obligation to them.

Forced or coerced sterilization undermines Indigenous women’s bodily autonomy and their agency to make choices affecting their personal lives. Indigenous women who have been forcibly or coerced into sterilization report several physical and emotional symptoms, including pain, hormonal imbalances, depression, anxiety, social isolation, loss of identity and self-worth, distrust in the health care system, and fear of authority. This puts Indigenous women at greater risk of preventable and treatable medical conditions, as many fail to seek medical attention in time.

There is also a plethora of evidence that forced or coerced sterilizations continue today. Between 2015 and 2019, more than 100 Indigenous women from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, and Quebec reported being forced or coerced to undergo a sterilization procedure in Canada. There are currently several proposed class action lawsuits representing these women.

Forced or coerced sterilizations are not only serious violations of human rights, Charter rights, and reproductive rights of Indigenous women. According to the United Nations Commission against Torture, “sterilizing women without consent is a form of torture.” In addition, the Geneva Convention asserts that forced and coerced sterilization is a crime against humanity.

In partnership with Amnesty International, Action Canada, and Inter Pares, NWAC has been working to bring national attention to this serious issue and to advocate for immediate action by the Canadian government, the provinces, and medical authorities to bring an end to the forced and coerced sterilization of Indigenous women. NWAC has testified before the Senate and has issued statements supporting the victims before the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as well as to the Canadian federal government. NWAC’s legal team is also currently preparing to file an application to intervene in a proposed class action lawsuit in Saskatchewan.