FORCED AND COERCED STERILIZATION HAPPENING TO INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN CANADA:

Forced or Coerced sterilization is considered as an act of violence that is gender-based and also violation of human rights. A forced sterilization is involuntary and the removal of reproduction ability of a person without consent. In females it is a medical procedure that prevents pregnancy. In Canada forced sterilization is the hidden history and was increasing in indigenous women and up till now in the 21^st century the practice of forced sterilization is continued. In Canada the forced sterilization is based on false premise of poverty, social problems and illness. In Canada the center for international justice works against the forced sterilization of non-indigenous women in Canada. This collaboration will result in awareness among people to fight against forced sterilization through media and other resources in Canada (Shawana, C., et al. 2021).

IDLE NO MORE:

It is the grass root movement or a protest among aboriginal Canadian people in order to gain the sovereignty, respect and rights of indigenous people of Canada. This movement was founded in 2012 and this movement attracts its supporters from both indigenous and non-indigenous communities of Canada (John, S. 2015). Idle no more movement assist to motivate the community of indigenous people and restorative discourse of the issues with in the border communities. Idle no more movement is basically an education about injustice, inequality such as social and economic and stop of degradation in environment among all Canadians (Graveline, F. J. 2012).                          

1. IMPACT OF PREGNANCY ON TEEN MOTHERS AND HOW IT AFFECTS THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES?

Teen mothers with early pregnancy are at greater threat for health-related issues like preeclampsia (high blood pressure), gestational diabetes that badly affects the kidneys or it also proves lethal for both baby and mother. Teenage pregnancy may also lead to Anemia (depletion in RBCs) that dismally affects the development of baby and also causes weakness in mother. According to WHO (World Health Organization) the teen pregnancy between 15-19 years of girls are at higher risks of death all over the world. If a teenage girl got pregnant then she may feel petrify and perturbed in sharing this news with family and friends and become depressed. Teen age pregnancy has a negative impact on families, communities, social and economic level of girls. Families are also affected by teen age pregnancy and left with long term consequences such as low earnings, marital failure, truncated participation in labor force, economic stress and restricted opportunities for life time, excessive ensuing fertility (Patel & Sen. 2012).

 INTERVIEW

   FAMILY 1

Name: Urooj Marcus.

Age: 25 years.

Marital status: Married.

• How old were you when you had your first child? I got married at the age of 15 years and when I conceived my first baby, I was 16 years old.
• How many children you have? I have only 1 child.
• What changes do you feel in your body during your early pregnancy? I was very week prior to my pregnancy and still I’m facing health issues. I feel weakness, lethargy, hypotension, dizziness and low sugar level whenever I stand for prolong period of time.
• Why you consider to have child at your early age? My in laws forced me to have children.
• What challenges are you facing as a mother? Being a very young mother, I faced a lot of challenges. Firstly, I wasn’t mentally ready to have child very soon but when I got one, I faced challenges of raising a child. My daughter was premature when she was born and she had to be transferred to NICU of the hospital and remained almost a month there. I was inexperienced and so young that I didn’t know how to tackle with a child and my body was week due which I wasn’t able to feed my child and I have to feed her with the formula milk.
• How did you tackle with the difficult child raising? My mother in law is very nice and gentle. She helped me a lot with my baby.
• Do you had any goals before becoming a mother? I just studied till high school and wasn’t interested in studying more. I didn’t have any life goals.
• Do you consider child bearing at an early stage is good or not: Well I think every one has his own life experiences. Initially I faced some issues due to my young age but later on I was very happy with my life.

FAMILY 2

Name: Alia Arshad

Age: 28 years

Marital status: Married.

• How old were you when you had your first child? When I conceived my first child, I was 15 years old.
• How many children you have? I have 3 children with age difference of 2 years between each child.
• What changes do you feel in your body during your early pregnancy? When I conceived I wasn’t ready at that time but suddenly as the time was passing by I was feeling good and there was no difficulties in my first pregnancy but when I conceived for 2^nd time I had gestational diabetes with that and had to go through C-section rather than normal delivery. My 1^st baby was delivered normal while others two were born by C-section.
• Why you consider to have child at your early age? I loved to have babies. Though I wasn’t ready at that time but I always wanted to have them.
• What challenges you faced as a mother in early age? Being a very young mother, I faced a lot of challenges. I was premature and inexperienced I got very difficulties in raising my first child. I wasn’t aware of how to set the baby sleep cycle and faced very difficulties with the first one but then I managed easily.
• How did you tackle with the difficult child raising? My mother and my husband helped me getting through all this.
• Do you had any goals before becoming a mother? Yes, I was very ambitious from the beginning. I always wanted to become a nutritionist. I completed all my study after marriage with my babies. My husband supported me a lot in my study and I am doing my specialization now.
• Do you consider child bearing at an early stage is good or not: Well I think everyone has his own life experiences. Initially I faced some issues due to my young age but later on I was very happy with my life.

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