Maharashtra's Beed women opting for hysterectomy to keep working

Recent studies link the distressing trend of female agricultural workers in India opting for hysterectomies to circumvent the loss of wages due to absenteeism to climate change. Based on these findings, specialists urge the administrators of the COP28 ‘loss and damage fund’ to contemplate extending support to address this issue.

Women from Beed district in India’s Maharashtra state are being forced to leave their homes to work in the sugar cane industry elsewhere. They are obligated to migrate as climate change is increasing the frequency of droughts and decimating their crops, according to a new paper from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

Climate linked to Indian labourers' health

Lata Waghmare, along with her spouse, annually relocates to Karnataka to labour as sugarcane harvesters. She recounted the birth of her second child amidst the cane fields, driven by the fear of incurring “khada (leave)” fees if she took time off after delivery.

As per the study,

"The gruelling work, often extending to 16-hour shifts, inflicts severe menstrual distress on many female workers. The coercive nature of informal labour agreements, which penalize absenteeism, compels these women to resort to hysterectomies to avoid work disruptions due to menstruation. Despite public condemnation, such surgeries persist in India, predominantly conducted in private facilities, leaving the women to contend with enduring physical and psychological distress".

In the study ‘Women paying the cost of the climate crisis with their wombs’, researchers examined 423 households in the Beed district of Maharashtra. The survey found that 253 households' residents migrate to work in the sugar industry, and most say they cut sugarcane during harvest season.

A staggering 55.73% of women from migrating households had undergone hysterectomies. This is in stark contrast to the 17.06% from non-migrating households.

"The range for the penalty for skipping a day's work is between Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. I returned to work five days post-delivery. I brought my baby to the field to feed her," one female labourer told IIED. "I laid her in one corner of the floor while I carried the cane bundles. My baby was run over by the tractor. I suffered the loss of my child," she added.

Migrants flock for sugarcane harvest

Data analysis between 1986 and 2022 implies a long-term trend of declining rainfall in the region. Hence, droughts are becoming more frequent and severe. Village records and IIED’s survey data suggest that the frequency of migrating for work has markedly increased in the last couple of decades.

Most migrants seeking employment mentioned that they journey to harvest sugarcane during the peak season. Local labour intermediaries, referred to as mukkadams, commonly recruit couples, known as jodis, to collaborate in tandem. These pairings are not formalized through official contracts but rather through verbal agreements.

For these workers, a standard workday spans from 12 to 16 hours throughout the six-month harvesting period. Typically, men are tasked with cutting the cane, while women bundle and stack it. The jodis often face salary reductions for any absence from work, instilling a widespread reluctance to take any form of leave.

Jayashree Owhal, a 45-year-old cane cutter from Kathawada village, Beed district, said to researchers,

"Over time, I couldn't bear my cramping anymore. I saw a gynaecologist in Beed who suggested I should stop lifting the heavy bundles. However, this was our only source of income. Hence, I decided to undergo a hysterectomy to get rid of the monthly ‘pain and stain’."

Other women reported that they used the clothes that they usually use for carrying cane bundles as their only sanitary product. People often leave these clothes covered in pesticides and chemicals, and cane particles often stick to them. One woman confessed that she had to bring her newborn daughter to the cane fields so she could continue her work. When she put her baby down to stack cane bundles, a tractor struck and killed the baby.

Climate impacts spur migration changes

Ritu Bharadwaj, a principal researcher for IIED, said,

“We don't just discuss the losses incurred and the damage done by climate change in terms of flooded apartments in New York, or scorched hillsides in Greece when we talk about it. Climate change, which has decimated their livelihoods, also causes the experiences of these women. Quantifying some of what they have lost – their dignity, good health, in some cases their lives – proves difficult."

Village records and the IIED survey data suggest a notable shift in migration patterns, with 55.67 per cent having started migrating in the last decade, up from 5.42 per cent three decades ago. This trend correlates with the increasing frequency and severity of drought conditions aggravated by climate change.

“Those in charge of the loss and damage fund agreed at COP28 last year should work with Indian officials to create a social support structure for labourers, to prevent more pain and heartache in future."

At the recent COP28 climate talks in Dubai, delegates reached a consensus on establishing a new loss and damage fund. This initiative aims to mitigate the disproportionate effects of climate change that disproportionately burden many in the global South. The report proposes several uses for the fund, including efforts to quantify the health-related costs endured by individuals migrating from Beed for sugarcane fieldwork.

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