India's hysterectomy scandal | DW Documentary

In India, unscrupulous private doctors are tricking women into unnecessary hysterectomies. The women undergoing these expensive procedures are, on average, 34 years old. The loss of the uterus has serious medical and financial consequences.

Unnecessary hysterectomies not only burden these women‘s families with heavy debts, they also lead to premature menopause, often leaving the women debilitated and unable to work.

In the sugar-growing region of Beed, one in three women has had her uterus removed. Many of them, including Prabarvati, went to the doctor with period pains, back pain or bladder infections and were diagnosed with cancer. The doctors' only solution: a hysterectomy. Prabarvati was just 26 years old when she had the surgery. Years later, she still suffers debilitating pain and looks decades older than she is. Her daughter dropped out of school and has begun working on sugar cane plantations to ensure the family's survival.

Other women have been pressured into the extreme procedure by their employers, who are reluctant to hire menstruating women. There is a misconception that women who do not undergo surgery and get their periods regularly are less productive.

Manisha Tokle has spent the last six years fighting back against the unwarranted hysterectomies. By educating women about their bodies, she aims to protect them from being coerced into having completely unnecessary surgery.

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