Working Title: Waiting for Justice
Genre: documentary
Trailer: 1.19 minLocation: Ostrava, Czech Republic (near the Polish border) and Krnov, small town located 70km west of Ostrava
Synopsis:
Czech Romani activist Elena Gorolova, 45, founder of Group of Women Harmed by Forced Sterilization, found her calling as a social worker in child-care services within the Roma community to overcome her grief from not being able to bear any more children after becoming a victim of forced sterilization.
Story:
During Soviet communism in Czechoslovakia, between 1971 and 1991, Roma women were automatically sterilized just after giving birth at the hospital to control the Roma population without their acknowledgment. It was a widespread governmental practice. Doctors or nurses gave consent forms for the women to fill out during labor, and it was common for the medical staff to threaten that if they do not sign the document they would die from health complications the next time they give birth.
Elena Gorolova, 45, is a victim of forced sterilization from post-Communism era. After giving birth to her second son, at the age of 21, she was told by her doctor they had just sterilized her. Today, she is now a social worker within the Roma community, helping families keep their children from being taken away by the state.
Elena journies to Krnov, 70km from her home, to reunites with four sisters, and their mother. On a previous trip, she discovered nearly all the Roma women in this town were forced sterilized during Communism by one hospital and by one doctor. Through their stories, the women will not only raise awareness about forced sterilization, but also learn about their strength and determination to rise above this severe human rights violation which took away their right to bear children.
The Czech ombudsman estimated that more than 90,000 women from former Czechoslovakia were involuntarily sterilized. Forced sterilization is a coercive family planning method which involves surgically removing or disabling reproductive organs without full or informed consent.
I became interested in this issue when researching a project about the Roma community in the Czech Republic during a film course. The more I researched the more I discovered this silent war against women. Forced sterilization not only occurred in post-Czechoslovakia, but also in the United States, Peru, China, Australia, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Kenya, and many others. This discriminatory practice of forced sterilization intentionally targets women who live with disability or HIV, or belong to indigenous populations or ethnic minorities.
According to Open Society Foundations, "forcefully ending a woman's reproductive capacity may lead to extreme social isolation, family discord or abandonment, fear of medical professionals, and lifelong grief." When I met Elena, I was touched by her drive to help poor, discriminated Roma families. Her work provides an outlet to overcome her sense of loss and depression.
TheRoma, one of the largest minority groups in Europe, have suffered systemic discrimination and human rights abuses throughout history. This continued suppression results in many Roma communities living in extreme poverty, as well as social and economic exclusion.
The Visura Multimedia Grant will help pay for the post-production to finish the film: transcription (Czech to English), audio mixing, color treatment, and final edit. I am working in partnership with the Czech Helsinki Committee who is leading the fight for compensation, and the San Francisco based non-profit International Action Network for Gender Equality and Law (IAngel) that is currently compiling case studies from other countries that have gone through compensation process, which will inform Czech Helsinki Committee's legislation advocacy and compensation mechanism for the victims.
I am struck by their resiliency and unity, and I hope that their story will help raise awareness about this silent war against women.
