“Why don’t women take up outdoor labour jobs?” The ignorance in that sentence is almost comical. First of all, who said they don’t? Second, the kind of labour some women are forced into is not just physically taxing; it’s dangerous, degrading, and in some cases, even mutilating. Though there are numerous instances of this, the case in point is the hysterectomy of sugarcane-cutting women in Beed, Maharashtra. Here, the removal of the womb has become a terrifying norm.

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Hysterectomy in Beed, Maharashtra

India is one of the largest sugarcane producers in the world, and Maharashtra contributes over 20 per cent of the country’s output, with the Beed district playing a major role. Every year, thousands of workers, many of whom are women, migrate here for employment. But the disturbing part is that if you get your womb removed, you earn more. Let me explain. Contractors want maximum productivity. Sugarcane cutting demands working 12-16 hours a day, often in temperatures soaring above 40°C, with minimal breaks. If a woman takes even a few days off due to period pain or bleeding, she is financially penalised. So, the only way out is hysterectomy – removal of the womb.
According to surveys quoted by The Guardian, over 36% of women sugarcane workers in Beed, Maharashtra, had undergone hysterectomies, many under the age of 35. This is 14 times more than the national average of just 3 per cent. Sometimes, even women under 25 have to go through this procedure simply to avoid menstruation.
What’s even worse is that from contractors to local doctors, all suggest that they get their wombs removed. They are not directly forced into going through a hysterectomy, but the looming fear of losing wages due to period cramps or bleeding convinces them. To make good money, doctors tell these women that their “problematic periods” can be “cured” by removing the womb.

Who benefits from these missing wombs?

Technically, everyone. These women have no agency over their bodies. It’s mostly their husbands, who depend on them for the income, or even the contractors (men) who make these decisions for them. Meanwhile, private clinics make a fortune. According to reports, some clinics charge between ₹30,000 and ₹50,000 per surgery, often without proper medical records, post-operative care, or even informed consent.
Quite a lot of times, the contractors loan these women the money to get the surgery done. And then they keep working year after year to repay this loan. And all of this for a negligible pay of ₹1,00,000 to ₹1,50,000 for around four months of hard work.

Who owns a woman’s body?

Removing the uterus is not the end; it’s the beginning of another form of struggle. These women suffer from hormonal imbalances, bowel blockages, infections from unhygienic working conditions, mental health issues, and, not to forget, the stigma of being barren. And to make it worse, most of them have no access to long-term healthcare or rehabilitation.
However, Maharashtra’s health minister, Prakash Abitkar, has ordered the setting up of committees that will keep an eye on clinics or doctors performing these hysterectomies. But the question still remains – who owns a woman’s body?

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