Intersectional Lens: Forced Sterilization

By Paige Abrey

Podcast Logo: Intersectional Lens

Summary Text:

This podcast focuses on the sterilization of poor, vulnerable women of color in Bangladesh and how this was endorsed by the government and other organizations such as USAID. This idea was inspired by the archive on the sterilization of Bangladesh women in the Sophia Smith Collection, and thus will be the main focus of the podcast. The case studies detailed in the archive were profound and powerful and should be told in a way that is accessible. I want to look at the sterilization of Bangladesh women through a critical, intersectional lens, establishing the roles of classism, sexism and racism that fed into the idea of ‘population control’ and how authorities chose the most vulnerable to be subject to this exploitation.