Tilley, Elizabeth; Earle, Sarah; Walmsley, Jan and Atkinson, Dorothy
(2012).
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| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link: | https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.654991 |
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| Google Scholar: | Look up in Google Scholar |
Abstract
This paper reviews the history of sterilization of women with intellectual disabilities, and considers its relevance to current practice regarding reproductive choice and futures. The paper provides an overview of published research on historical practices, focusing on the UK, the US, Canada and the Nordic countries. Most of this research draws upon written records, centering on eugenics debates. However, emerging oral history testimonies gathered by the authors suggest that sterilization procedures were also conducted in the community, the result of private negotiations between parents and medical practitioners. The article presents these accounts and calls for an end to a ‘roaring silence’ on this issue. More empirical studies are needed to recover the experiences of women who have been sterilized and to explore how decisions about reproductive choice and capacity were made in the past and continue to be made today.
Key words: Sterilization; intellectual disability; contraception; history.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Copyright Holders: | 2012 Disability and Society |
| ISSN: | 1360-0508 |
| Extra Information: | This is an electronic version of an article published in [include the complete citation information for the final version of the article as published in the print edition of the journal]. Disability and Society is available online at: www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords: | sterilization; intellectual disability; contraception; history |
| Academic Unit/School: | Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) |
| Related URLs: | |
| Item ID: | 30719 |
| Depositing User: | Sarah Earle |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jan 2012 16:44 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Jun 2017 13:28 |
| URI: | http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/30719 |
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