Population Control in the “Global North”?: Canada’s Response to Indigenous Reproductive Rights and Neo-Eugenics

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (s3) ◽  
pp. s876-s902
Author(s):  
Erika Dyck ◽  
Maureen Lux

An historical analysis of reproductive politics in the Canadian North during the 1970s necessitates a careful reading of the local circumstances regarding feminism, sovereignty, language, colonialism, and access to health services, which differed regionally and culturally. These features were conditioned, however, by international discussions on family planning that fixated on the twinned concepts of unchecked population growth and poverty. Language from these debates crept into discussions about reproduction and birth control in northern Canada, producing the state’s logic that, despite low population density, the endemic poverty in the North necessitated aggressive family planning measures.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Preety R Rajbangshi ◽  
Devaki Nambiar ◽  
Aradhana Srivast

Abstract Introduction:. It is well acknowledged that India’s Community Health workers known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are the bedrock of its health system. Many ASHAs are currently working in fragile and conflict-affected settings. No efforts have yet been made to understand the challenges and vulnerabilities of these female workers. This paper seeks to address this gap by bringing attention to the situation of ASHAs working in the fragile and conflict settings and how conflict impacts them and their work. Methods: Qualitative fieldwork was undertaken in four conflict-affected villages in two conflict-affected districts -Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong of Assam state situated in the North-East region of India. Detailed account of four ASHAs from the majority (Bodo or Karbi) and minority (Adivasi or Koch) communities serving roughly 4000 people is presented. Data transliterated into English were analysed by authors by developing a codebook using grounded theory and thematic organisation of codes. Results: ASHAs reported facing challenges in ensuring access to health services during and immediately after outbreaks of conflict. They experienced difficulty in arranging transport and breakdown of services at remote health facilities. Their physical safety and security were at risk during episodes of conflict. ASHAs reported hostile attitudes of the communities they served due to the breakdown of social relations, trauma due to displacement, and loss of family members, particularly their husbands. Conclusion: Conflict must be recognised as an important context within which community health workers operate, with greater policy focus and research devoted to understanding and addressing the barriers they face as workers and as persons affected by conflict.


2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
MELLISSA WITHERS ◽  
MEGUMI KANO ◽  
GDE NGURAH INDRAGUNA PINATIH

SummaryExploring fertility preferences in relation to contraceptive use can increase the understanding of future reproductive behaviour and unmet family planning needs. This knowledge can help assist women in meeting their reproductive goals. The influences on the desire for more children and current contraceptive use were examined among 1528 married women of reproductive age in an isolated community in Bali, Indonesia, using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Women who were younger, had fewer living children, had given birth in the past year and had regular access to health services were more likely to desire children. Being older, having fewer living children, not having regular access to health services, having given birth in the past year and having the desire for more children were associated with a lower likelihood of using contraception. Women with regular access to health care are more likely to desire more children, probably because they are confident in their ability to have successful birth outcomes. However, specialized clinics or family planning outreach workers may be required to reduce barriers to service utilization among some groups. The findings of this study identify key target populations for family planning, including older women and postpartum women – groups that may not perceive themselves to be at risk for unintended pregnancy. Meeting unmet need for family planning among these groups could help women meet their fertility goals, as well as reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.


Author(s):  
Monica Khanna

Feminist studies accord great importance to the issue of reproductive rights, because the control over her body is the first step that a woman takes towards liberation and freedom from the oppression by patriarchy. Adele Clarke in her essay ‘Subtle Forms of Sterilization Abuse’ comments: Reproduction is a fundamental human right: neither the state nor the actions of others should deny any person autonomy over their reproductive processes […] Reproductive freedom is the prerequisite for any kind of liberation for women. The right to decide whether and when to bear children is fundamental to a woman’s control of her own body, her sexuality, her life choices. (Clarke 1984: 189-190) This paper examines two stories which deal with the right of a woman to birth control and family planning, ‘Daktaramma’s Room’ (2004) by R. Chudamani and ‘Giribala’ (2004) by Mahashwta Devi.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Preety R Rajbangshi ◽  
Devaki Nambiar ◽  
Aradhana Srivastava

Abstract Introduction It is well acknowledged that India’s community health workers known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are the bedrock of its health system. Many ASHAs are currently working in fragile and conflict-affected settings. No efforts have yet been made to understand the challenges and vulnerabilities of these female workers. This paper seeks to address this gap by bringing attention to the situation of ASHAs working in the fragile and conflict settings and how conflict impacts them and their work. Methods Qualitative fieldwork was undertaken in four conflict-affected villages in two conflict-affected districts -Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong of Assam state situated in the North-East region of India. Detailed account of four ASHAs serving roughly 4000 people is presented. Data transliterated into English were analysed by authors by developing a codebook using grounded theory and thematic organisation of codes. Results ASHAs reported facing challenges in ensuring access to health services during and immediately after outbreaks of conflict. They experienced difficulty in arranging transport and breakdown of services at remote health facilities. Their physical safety and security were at risk during episodes of conflict. ASHAs reported hostile attitudes of the communities they served due to the breakdown of social relations, trauma due to displacement, and loss of family members, particularly their husbands. Conclusions Conflict must be recognised as an important context within which community health workers operate, with greater policy focus and research devoted to understanding and addressing the barriers they face as workers and as persons affected by conflict.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cicely Marston ◽  
Alicia Renedo ◽  
Gertrude Nsorma Nyaaba

We take a dialogical approach to exploring fertility regulation practices and show how they can maintain or express social identity. We identify three themes in educated Ghanaian women’s accounts of how they navigate conflicting social demands on their identity when trying to regulate fertility: secrecy and silence – hiding contraception use and avoiding talking about it; tolerating uncertainty – such as using unreliable but more socially acceptable contraception; and wanting to be fertile and protecting menses. Family planning programmes that fail to tackle such social-psychological obstacles to regulating fertility will risk reproducing social spaces where women struggle to claim their reproductive rights.


1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T. Critchlow

The cultural fission created by the controversy over birth control and abortion, as Juvenal's satiric comment above indicates, has a long and bitter history. The emergence of the modern state, however, transformed cultural differences into political acrimony as reproduction rights became public policy. In the United States, reproductive rights in the post-World War II period became a matter of political controversy when the federal government began to fund family planning programs domestically and abroad in the 1960s.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-83
Author(s):  
Ni Made Rai Widiastuti ◽  
Kadek Widiantari ◽  
Ni Kadek Tasya Agustina

The results of family planning services during the COVID-19 pandemic in national scale has decreasedin the number of contraceptive uses reaching 40% in almost all regions in Indonesia (BKKBN, 2020). This couldbe caused by various problems, including an increase in the number of unwanted pregnancies and baby booms orincrease of birth rate. This is due to the obstruction of access to services, delaying access to health facilities dueto fears of contracting COVID-19 and increasing of husband and wife sexual intercourse without usingcontraceptives that inducing pregnancy. Based on the results of Widiastuti's research in 2020, where a survey wasconducted to find out the description of family planning use during the pandemic in the North Kuta District, it wasfound that half of them (53.2%) of respondents were using contraceptives and almost half of them (46.8%) ofrespondents did not use contraception. One of the efforts to suppress the surge in baby births is through the FamilyPlanning program for couples of childbearing age. The aim of this community service is to provide knowledgeabout contraceptive tools and methods in suppressing the surge in baby births. The targets are women ofchildbearing age aged 15-45 years who have not used contraception or who use and do not make repeat visits asmany as 30 people. The implementation of the activity was carried out by assessing the level of understanding ofthe respondents by pre-testing through google forms, implementing counseling, family planning counseling andintroduction of contraceptives and evaluating the material by post-testing via google forms. The results of theactivity show that there is an increase in mother's knowledge about family planning tools and methods, which isexpected to influence the behavior of woman in using contraceptives so that they are expected to anticipate theoccurrence of baby boom.


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