In Beed district, Maharashtra, a troubling trend has emerged among female sugar cane workers: an alarming rate of hysterectomies. Asha, 29, sugar cane cutter. Two years ago, she had the uterus removed – making her one of over 13,000 women in her congressional district to do so in the last 10 years. Given that some of these women were under the age of 25, this alarming situation has caused much concern.
Beed district has been a focal point for the sugar cane labor sent throughout Maharashtra to harvest sugar cane. Alarmingly, the percentage of hysterectomies performed on women in this region is over 36%. This figure is all the more startling when compared to the national average of a mere 3%. Local authorities are under increasing pressure from activists and labor rights organizations. In reply, they’ve promised to look into the situation around these operations.
Gynecological health issues among female sugar cane workers in Beed are prevalent. They often complain of complications such as uterine cysts, menstruation irregularities and recurrent urinary tract infections. Thousands of women turn to their physicians only to be met with recommendations that hysterectomy is a perfectly realistic answer to their health issues. The choice to have such radical surgery is frequently driven by economic incentives, not medical need.
Whether it’s period pain or a difficult pregnancy that adds up to more missed days and more lost wages. Though contractors do not literally make them get hysterectomies, these contractors make conditions so bad that women are cornered into needing one. Manisha Vaijnath Tokle, a labor rights campaigner, gave a sobering perspective, “For those who have had children, it seems like the only option to stay in work.
The economic impacts of missing work are drastic for these women. Manual workers, earning less than £4 a day. Without it, missing even a single day translates into lost wages and the risk of incurring fines imposed by labor contractors. Seema Kulkarni, a spokesperson for an alliance advocating for the rights of female farm workers, emphasized the exploitative nature of this situation.
In many situations, they’re not even granted one day off – not even to account for menstruation, pregnancy or miscarriage. It’s bonded labour in every sense. If they don’t work one day, they don’t earn their daily wage. On top of that, they’re still on the hook for paying the labor contractor. Kulkarni stated.
To make matters worse, the systemic injustices that pervade and embolden the sugar cane industry perpetuate this sad reality. And millions of young girls are married off as soon as 12 years old. They sometimes follow their husbands to labor recruitment centers, where men are recruited as sugar cane laborers. The combination of poverty, low wages, and lack of medical care forces many women into difficult positions regarding their health.
As the investigation continues, advocates are committed to keeping the focus on the lives that matter. They say this has the potential to ignite systemic, profound reforms in the treatment and labor conditions of women sugar cane workers within Beed. It is critically important to address the unnecessary high rate of hysterectomies for women’s health. Taking these steps helps ensure women of all career stages are respected in their workplaces.