July 7, 2008
Trial of a Child Denied
Watch the program: Part 1 Part 2

My interest in the project started in 2003 with the publication of the Body and Soul report, which revealed that more than a hundred Roma women in 40 settlements in Slovakia had been coercively sterilized.

As a freelance photojournalist in Prague at the time, I pursued the story. I traveled to eastern Slovakia and met women living in ghetto-like conditions outside Presov, the third largest Slovak city.

In Svinia, a Canadian anthropologist introduced me to villagers and various NGO workers involved with trying to improve dialogue between the local Roma and Slovaks. I had never been in a Roma settlement before and was in awe of the conditions in which they lived as well as their hospitality and sense of community, the raw humanity largely untouched by globalization and technology.

Then events unfolded before me across central Europe. In 2005, Roma women started coming forward in the Czech Republic and in early 2007, the first of these women, Helena Ferencikova, looked set to win what would be a landmark case against the hospital that allegedly sterilized her without consent. I decided it was time to look into this case and discover what exactly was nagging me about it.

Filming began with Helena Ferencikova’s court case and continued through the course of the year as we gradually got to know the other people involved and started documenting the actions of a group of women in the eastern part of the Czech Republic who had initially come together for emotional support but eventually progressed into political activism.

As non-Czech speakers, director Michelle Coomber and I were reliant on translators, who happened to be two incredible journalists. Jan Stojaspal, a former Time Magazine correspondent, was able to interview politicians and medical staff involved while Karolina Ryvolova, a Roma studies major, deftly yet delicately approached the subject with the women.

These sterilized Roma women and their husbands were wonderfully accommodating. They allowed us into their homes and their lives and really opened up about their experiences and the long-term affects the surgery had on them.

This "Group of Women Harmed by Sterilisation," led by Elena Gorolova, were fairly media savvy and comfortable in front of our cameras, presumably because Czech news crews had been interviewing Gorolova and her colleagues for years about their plight. This was in contrast to Helena Ferencikova, who was extremely sensitive about talking with us. The charms of an American associate producer and his elementary Czech however, allowed us unprecedented access to both her and her husband in their home.

Although the documentary highlights the women, we also interviewed the doctors and governmental bodies principally involved in the majority of Czech cases, who were also very open in discussing the particulars of the Ferencikova case.

I had been advised by several journalists that the fundamental issue here was informed consent, albeit informed consent intrinsically linked with antiquated remnants of the Communist regime. Regardless, questions remained over the extent of modern-day eugenics and the spokesperson of the health ministry admitted that had this occurred in a country like the UK, medical staff would have been terminated. The issue is not simple however, and has many sides, as the personal opinion of a nurse regarding the Czech social benefit system reveals.

Michelle and I have been repeatedly told this isn’t the most glamorous topic for a debut documentary but the uniqueness of the women’s actions and the courage necessary to stand together against the authorities in a world where Roma are still marginalized, is very compelling, and strikes a chord at the fundamental essence of womanhood.

-- From producer Dana Wilson
This is terrible. it remonds me of a case that my father is involved in in the Republic of Panama. Long story short, he was unware that a part of his body had been removed during a biopsy until he had returned to the United States. Now the U.S. Government is involved in the investigation, though the Panamanian government has yet to act, even though it is a penal case.
This is truly horrible but what is also horrible is the attitude of the relevant governments so far which have not yet offered an apology to the victims of forced sterilisation. Also, none of the Romani women sterilised has received compensation for the harm done to them. A coalition of organisations which includes the Group of Women Harmed by Coercive Sterilisation has recently launched a global campaign to support the Romani women victimised by coerced sterilisation practices in Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. For more information and to join the campaign please visit http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2965=#Compensation
This sounds really interesting and having read up on other aspects of being Roma and their way of life, I am really intrigued as to the motivations of the hospital's actions to sterelise the women. Kudos to the director for choosing this topic to work with.
To the director and producer - bravo! Thank you for your courageous and diligent pursuit of the "unglamourous" truth behind these events. What has been allowed to happen to these women is indeed relavent to us all. How we as a global community treat those who have no voice is a reflection on our own humanity. Thanks for keeping us honest and reminding us of who we are. I look forward to seeing the whole piece.
I live in Belgrade, Serbia. It is a city with a very large Roma population and I think this documentary was pretty one-sided. I think we can all agree that sterilizing women without their consent is deplorable. However, the producers of this movie had the obligation to describe the Roma people and their way of life. I think if everyone was aware of the environment that these children are raised in they might find it just as deplorable to allow these women to give birth. Roma babies are used by mothers begging on the street to get the sympathy of those passing by. When they are able to walk they are sent out into the streets by themselves to beg all day long. When they become older they have numerous options available, those being washing car windows at stop lights, driving a bicycle around to trash dumpsters to collect trash or driving a modified bicycle around to trash dumpsters to collect cardboard. They are never given the opportunity to receive an education. I await CNN's documentary on the plight of Roma children
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World’s Untold Stories showcases courageous correspondents telling intimate stories of society's most vulnerable people. Often gritty, always powerful tales that open our eyes to a world that is at times disturbing and captivating. Storytelling that is raw and unyielding in its impact. World’s Untold Stories will bring the viewer tales from all corners of the world, and shine light on activities almost never exposed.

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