{"id":11116,"date":"2024-11-22T14:54:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T19:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/?p=11116"},"modified":"2024-11-22T14:54:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T19:54:39","slug":"women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/","title":{"rendered":"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"stop
Image source: free Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How are you doing with keeping your baptismal vows? Do you think about this one very much: Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I think about it a lot, especially where continued violence against women is concerned. It\u2019s not getting better. I feel so helpless where many are concerned.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s one example that we might be able to do something about.<\/p>\n

The shocking news report first appeared in a\u00a0March 2024 piece in the New York Times<\/a>: women in sugar fields in India were getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.<\/p>\n

Why? Well, the explanation is simple.<\/p>\n

Young girls are pushed into illegal child marriages so they can work alongside their husbands cutting and gathering sugar cane. Instead of receiving wages, they work to pay off advances from their employers \u2014 an arrangement that requires them to pay a fee for the privilege of missing work, even to see a doctor.<\/p>\n

An extreme yet common consequence of this financial entrapment is hysterectomies. Labor brokers lend money for the surgeries, even to resolve ailments as routine as heavy, painful periods. And the women \u2014 most of them uneducated \u2014 say they have little choice.<\/p>\n

Hysterectomies keep them working, undistracted by doctor visits or the hardship of menstruating in a field with no access to running water, toilets or shelter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, very young women are suddenly faced with menopause and all the significant health implications of the sudden removal of estrogen from their systems. This permits their continued work as slaves in the sugar fields of India.<\/p>\n

Why do those inhumane practices thrive? Here,\u00a0in a follow-up to the first article<\/a>, is the answer:<\/p>\n

The reason, to many in Maharashtra, is obvious. Sugar is among the state\u2019s most important industries, one that sells to\u00a0big brand buyers such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi<\/a>, and is heavily controlled by the political elite.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to various reports, most of the sugar coming from these particular sugar cane fields lands in the Coke and Pepsi plants in India. US plants generally get the massive amounts of sugar they use from other sources.<\/p>\n

\n

We can help stop these unnecessary hysterectomies with a simple solution<\/h2>\n

Now, we can\u2019t stop people from other countries from drinking these products. But we in the US could exert a lot of pressure on those companies to stop this injustice.<\/p>\n

A simple fact: we in the US spend too much money on heavily sugared drinks and other overly-sugared\/processed food anyway. Plus they are awful, just awful, for our health.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a fairly technical article\u00a0<\/a>about the deleterious health effects of overly processed food. A simple summary:\u00a0Do you want to die early and suffer many debilitating diseases?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Just fill up on ultra-processed foods. And Coke and Pepsi specialize in them.<\/p>\n

\n

So stop. Just stop. It will take a bit of work, but it is doable.<\/p>\n

\n

\"one<\/p>\n

\n

Here is a list of products<\/a>\u00a0besides the soft drinks that Coke manufactures. You may see some favorites on it. It\u2019s OK, water is really, really good and there are many alternatives to the others.<\/p>\n

Unlike Pepsi, Coca-Cola does not own any food brands\u2014they are liquids only.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the list of Pepsi<\/a>\u00a0drink products.\u00a0Here are the food brands<\/a>\u00a0that Pepsi owns. There\u2019s a very nice graphic of the extensive Pepsi-owned companies\u00a0on this site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yeah, a lot of these are going to be hard to stop supporting. But every dollar that does not go to one of those brands may indeed bring some pressure to bear on their continuing support of the vile abuse of women and children in those sugar cane fields.<\/p>\n

We need to start somewhere. One small protest can go a long, long way to helping enslaved and abused women AND improving our own health and the health of those around us.<\/p>\n

We can do this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves. How are you doing with keeping your baptismal vows? Do you think about this one very much: Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2704,"featured_media":18088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,28],"tags":[3781,3775,3784,3778],"class_list":["post-11116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baptism","category-christianity","tag-coca-cola","tag-hysterectomies","tag-pepsi","tag-sugar-fields"],"yoast_head":"\nWomen, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Thoughtful Pastor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/christy.thomas1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-22T19:54:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/667\/2024\/11\/AdobeStock_241528815-sugar-poured-out-of-a-can-copy-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christy Thomas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@christythomas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christy Thomas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/\",\"name\":\"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-22T19:54:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-22T19:54:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/4e3311c36b468db8f554f8fa332325b6\"},\"description\":\"Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/\",\"name\":\"The Thoughtful Pastor\",\"description\":\"A pastor ponders life, death, hope, despair, theology and the nature of God\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/4e3311c36b468db8f554f8fa332325b6\",\"name\":\"Christy Thomas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac44f40fdd875f2df2ca5f5d7a0411bc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac44f40fdd875f2df2ca5f5d7a0411bc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Christy Thomas\"},\"description\":\"I am an opinionated Jesus-follower, a retired elder in the United Methodist church, a questioner of everything, and a lover of grace. I am married to a wonderful man and together we claim 11 children and 12 grandchildren. I love to travel, garden, walk and connect ideas together.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.christythomas.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/christy.thomas1\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/christythomas\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/author\/mcthomas\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies","description":"Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies","og_description":"Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/","og_site_name":"The Thoughtful Pastor","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/christy.thomas1","article_published_time":"2024-11-22T19:54:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/667\/2024\/11\/AdobeStock_241528815-sugar-poured-out-of-a-can-copy-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christy Thomas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@christythomas","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christy Thomas","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/","name":"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-11-22T19:54:39+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-22T19:54:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/4e3311c36b468db8f554f8fa332325b6"},"description":"Women working in sugar fields in India are getting unnecessary hysterectomies in order to keep working, essentially as slaves.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/2024\/11\/22\/women-sugar-cane-fields-and-forced-hysterectomies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Women, Sugar Cane Fields And Forced Hysterectomies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/","name":"The Thoughtful Pastor","description":"A pastor ponders life, death, hope, despair, theology and the nature of God","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/4e3311c36b468db8f554f8fa332325b6","name":"Christy Thomas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac44f40fdd875f2df2ca5f5d7a0411bc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac44f40fdd875f2df2ca5f5d7a0411bc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Christy Thomas"},"description":"I am an opinionated Jesus-follower, a retired elder in the United Methodist church, a questioner of everything, and a lover of grace. I am married to a wonderful man and together we claim 11 children and 12 grandchildren. I love to travel, garden, walk and connect ideas together.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.christythomas.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/christy.thomas1","https:\/\/twitter.com\/christythomas"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/author\/mcthomas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2704"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtfulpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}