Recent investigations, including a @FullerProject investigation reported by @nytimes, @meghara, and @Qadri_Inzamam, have shed light on the grim realities of labor exploitation in the Indian state of Maharashtra, a key sugar-producing region. Reports highlight that women working in sugar cane fields are undergoing unnecessary hysterectomies, a practice linked to the desire to work without interruptions from menstruation, pregnancies, or the need for gynecological checkups. This issue is part of a broader system of labor abuse that also involves child labor and the financial entanglement of major soft-drink manufacturers, including @CocaCola and @PepsiCo, which are implicated in financing this exploitative system. Critics, including @Princeton’s @AshokaMody, argue that these practices contradict claims by Indian government officials that extreme poverty has been eliminated in the country, pointing out the severe social and health implications for the workers.
The Brutality of Sugar: Debt, Child Marriage and Hysterectomies via @NYTimes https://t.co/oY8YyGrn3J
The Indian state of Maharashtra is a sugar-producing powerhouse. But a Times and @FullerProject investigation found that soft-drink makers help finance a brutal system of labor that exploits children and leads to the sterilization of working-age women. https://t.co/tA4H7rU0DV https://t.co/f8c0ALt9wu
The Brutality of Sugar: Debt, Child Marriage and Hysterectomies. @CocaCola @PepsiCo Via @nytimes @meghara @Qadri_Inzamam https://t.co/2rpJ3kuvdw
How can India have eliminated extreme poverty when this is happening? And Coke and Pepsi know about it. By @meghara @qadriinzamam https://t.co/VHHjricb5j
Women who cut sugar cane in the Indian state of Maharashtra are getting unnecessary hysterectomies, often as a way to keep working, undistracted by periods, pregnancies or gynecological checkups. https://t.co/SbJLZ2ibE2
While Indian government officials point to recent consumption figures to proclaim that extreme poverty has been eliminated, a closer look reveals the grim reality behind these misleading statistics, writes @Princeton’s @AshokaMody. https://t.co/jMWXklZE4A