China: Woman forcibly sterilized in retaliation for husband’s petition of local government

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On the eve of the U.S. — China Human Rights Dialogue, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers has learned that a 46-year-old woman was

Forced sterilization in China

forcibly sterilized, in retaliation for bringing a petition. The woman posted the following account on the internet:

“On March 14, my husband was being escorted back from making a petition. To retaliate for his petition, the town government sent more than 20 strong men. I could no longer give birth to a child at that time, but they still dragged my legs, treated me like an animal, and forcibly performed a tubal ligation on the operating table of the Family Planning Office. Guoqing Luo (the Deputy Town Secretary) also exclaimed, “The Government takes the consequences! The Government has the money!”

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers phoned the victim’s husband and learned of the tragic circumstances that led to the petition. The couple’s second daughter fell to her death from a fourth floor window during a quarrel with her boyfriend. Her parents took the boyfriend’s parents to court and won a judgment of 43,000 RMB ($6700), but they were never paid.

The victim’s husband petitioned to enforce the judgment. In retaliation for this petition, the local government forcibly sterilized his wife. The local government told the victim’s husband that if he and his wife kept quiet about the forced sterilization, they would receive compensation. The couple, however, decided to post the incident on the Internet.

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, stated, “Forced sterilization is barbaric and is already categorized as a crime against humanity. To forcibly sterilize a woman who is beyond childbearing to retaliate for bringing a petition is beyond barbaric. This incident is evidence of what I have been saying for years: China’s One Child Policy is social control masquerading as population control. Its primary purpose is no longer to control fertility, but rather to control the Chinese people through terror. Family planning officials function as domestic terrorists. They extort, maim and kill with impunity, to suppress dissent of any sort.”

Littlejohn added, “There is no mention of forced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the agenda of the U.S. — China Human Rights Dialogue. These practices touch every family in China and should be front and center in the Dialogues.” — Christian Newswire