Women in Maharashtra’s Marathwada area are removing their wombs to boost job productivity and avoid daily pay loss. The district has a very high prevalence of hysterectomies among its women, particularly those who relocate to neighbouring districts to work as sugarcane cutters.
What is a hysterectomy?
A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that removes a woman’s uterus or womb, resulting in no monthly cycles and no pregnancy in the operated lady. In medical terminology, it is also known as surgical menopause. The entire uterus is usually removed during the procedure, however, only the fallopian tubes and ovaries can be removed. When a woman is pregnant, the baby grows in the womb. Hysterectomy has a negative influence on a woman’s health since it can cause hormonal imbalance, calcium insufficiency, and chronic bodily soreness, among other things.
Why are Maharashtra women removing their wombs?
According to The Hindu, in August 2019, ladies in the Beed area amputated their wombs to escape the punishment for menstruation. During harvesting, the labourers harvesting sugarcane crops in Maharashtra’s Hajipur hamlet travel to the western part of the state to run their houses. Both men and women move to find work.
Contractors prioritise women with ‘no uterus’ for work during this period because they believe they take fewer vacations, whereas menstruation women request more. According to state data, nearly 4,605 women in Maharashtra had their uterus removed between 2016 and 2019. However, civil rights organisations argue that the rate of hysterectomy in Beed is 14 times higher than in the state or country.
Extreme poverty and early marriage
Over 5-6 lakh people move from Beed to other regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka’s border districts to work as sugarcane cutters. This applies to pregnant and breastfeeding women. The predicament of the inhabitants of Beed is exceedingly poor since they come from places (mainly drought-stricken areas) with absolutely no alternative source of work. They make a living by chopping sugar cane.
A commission formed by the Maharashtra government stated that societal factors like as early marriages, a lack of understanding of women’s health difficulties, and water scarcity are among the numerous causes of the crisis. Apart from the fieldwork, there is still open defecation in the district and no sanitary facilities at the workplace or in residences.
What does a government report say?
In 2019, the state government formed a seven-member committee to evaluate the rising frequency of hysterectomies among female cane cutters in the Beed area. Dr Neelam Gorhe, deputy speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Council at the time, presided over the committee. The committee conducted a poll of 82,309 women in the Beed who had moved to harvest cane at least once.
As per the research, women were having hysterectomies merely to avoid losing their daily income. Migrant sugarcane labourers are offered pay of Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 lakh per year. They are required to work for around 12 hours per day to reach the objective. Surgery costs women between Rs 25 and Rs 30,000.
According to the survey, 13,861 women had hysterectomy procedures, with 45 per cent experiencing emotional and physical distress following the procedure. Most of them are in the 35-40 age range,’ Dr Gorhe stated, adding that ‘a minor segment under 25 has also had a hysterectomy. We discovered that because of early marriage and repeated childbearing, women in the area encounter a variety of health difficulties, including infections, and instead of seeking appropriate treatment, the women choose hysterectomy to solve the problems once and for all.’
Among its suggestions, the committee urged that migrant women workers be issued health cards. It would help women to have frequent medical check-ups, a standard operating procedure (SOP) for surgeons to follow before doing such surgeries, and so on.
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