Forced and secret contraception on Ethiopian women
The Israeli authorities have admitted that five years ago, methods were used to deprive immigrants from Ethiopia of the possibility of getting pregnant.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote about it. It turns out that Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia on the border were injected with long-lasting contraceptives. It was a drug Depo Provera, administered in the form of injections, which inhibit ovulation for three months. The drug was given to women without their consent, explaining that they are vaccines that should be repeated every 90 days.
This information was provided by Ethiopian immigrants themselves, 35 of whom appeared in the program resulting from the journalistic investigation of Israeli journalists. They also mentioned that they did not want to be given the injections, but they were forced to do so. After the program and the numerous appeals of Israeli human rights organizations, the general director of the Israeli Ministry of Health issued an order to stop these procedures to the four medical organizations that dealt with it. The order says that gynecologists are not allowed to prescribe Ethiopian immigrants Depo Provera if there are the slightest doubts as to whether the woman is aware of the effects. In the event of communication difficulties, they are obligated to call an interpreter – regulation said.
Israeli human rights organizations demand an investigation into this matter. The case is even more shocking because this action had to be carried out for a long time, as the research indicates that fertility in the Ethiopian Israeli community has decreased by 50 per cent in the last 10 years and it is suspected that this is also the effect of using it on a large scale.
Since the 1980s, about 100,000 Ethiopian followers of Judaism have arrived to Israel. They, since then, have repeatedly complained about racist and discriminatory practices against them. According to official data, in Ethiopian Jews’ households earnings are 35% lower than the national average, and only half of the youth graduates from high school; in the case of the rest of Israel’s population, this rate is 63 percent.