Women in Maharshtra’s Beed district are working in sugar fields for almost six months at a stretch. However, their employment has a prerequisite: they have to surgically get their wombs removed so that they don’t menstruate at all.
According to a report by the Hindu Business Line, cane cutting contractors are unwilling to hire women who menstruate, so hysterectomies have become the norm.
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), states that the agrarian sector nearly employs 80% women workers. Despite such high numbers, both the sector and the macroeconomic policy framework are yet to recognise them as farmers.
Moreover, 81% of the female agricultural labourers belong to Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities (ILO, 2010). The largest share of casual and landless labourers also come from these social groups.
Yet, women have to literally pay through their organs to keep their jobs.
“You will hardly find women with wombs in these villages. These are villages of womb-less women.”Manda Ugale, a cane-cutter to The Hindu Business Line
It is a norm for women from Vanjarwadi to get hysterectomies done. If they have to sustain themselves in the profession, they have to get it done.
The husband and wife are hired as one unit and if either of them take a break for even a minute, they have to pay Rs 500 to the cane cutter.
As a result, if a woman is menstruating, she will need several breaks in between, and if the couple is fine with paying that kind of money, they can. But, most of them are not in a condition to.
The painful process of getting hysterectomies done is financed by the contractor at the time of the operation, but the worker has to then work to pay the contractor back.
This is a blatant violation of not just work ethics but also a violation of human rights.
“After a hysterectomy, there is no chance of menstrual periods. So, there is no question of taking a break during cane cutting. We cannot afford to lose even a rupee.”SatyaBhama, a cane cutter to The Hindu Business Line
The sugarcane cutting season is roughly between 4-5 months, so essentially what the labourers earn is what sustains them for the rest of the year. They have to choose between surgery that gives them a livelihood or no work for a year. They choose the former.
Cane cutters have to live in cane fields or near sugar mills in a tent. There are no bathrooms and toilets. It becomes even more difficult for a woman if she has periods in these conditions.Vilabai a cane cutter to The Hindu Business Line
The struggle that these women go through is unfathomable. Yet nobody seems to be speaking for the women in the agrarian sector. Will the upcoming elections results make any difference in the lives of these women? Only time will tell.
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