Trial of a Child Denied
Script with Timecodes
Doctor Marion Mantic
00:22 This tube is supposed to be a fallopian tube
00:27 This is the abdominal end of a fallopian tube which is fixed to a womb
00:35 It means it’s not moving
00:37 If we grab a fallopian tube like this
00:41 My assistant will hold it
00:45 I’ll perform ligation with thread.
00:49 Of course a fallopian tube is soft unlike this tube
00:56 Do you have a piece of string?
01:07 A fallopian tube is cracked now, we cut off the edges so it’s disconnected and the ligature remains.
Helena Ferenčíková
01:30 I was lying there pregnant
01:33 when I went into labour, had delivery pains and my water broke
01:37 a doctor came
01:42 Those pains are horrible
01:45 I don’t think any woman could ever read in that kind of pain
01:53 Any woman would simply sign it and not care
01:59 Such pain would easily make you jump out of the window
02:04 You simply want everything to be over
02:09 I think they sterilized me because I was a Roma woman
02:16 And they didn’t want Roma to have too many children
02:19 If they cared for me, they would have asked me
02:24 ‘Do you want us to do it, do you want to think it over?’
02:28 But they didn’t give me any chance to think it over
02:33 As if I was some kind of little guinea pig
Doctor Marion Mantic
02:36 So in this particular case
02:39 the woman had already undergone one c-section
02:44 The woman came in again when she was in labour
02:47 It seemed that the delivery was going normally
02:50 The moment the situation changed and it seemed
02:53 it was not proceeding normally
02:54 and a c-section was considered
02:56 then the patient should be informed of the possibilities
02:59 The woman was informed that repeated c-sections
03:04 with risks for future pregnancies
03:06 are a reason for sterilization
03:08 She was informed of that, she consented, and signed it
Judge at Olomouc Court
03:34 The plaintiff in her accusation demanded a letter
03:37 from the defendant in these exact words
03:34 Dear Mrs. Ferenčíková,
03:47 On October 10th 2001 we performed a sterilization on you
03:51 at the gynecologic-obstetrical ward of our hospital
03:53 without informing you appropriately
03:58 and not letting you consult your husband before surgery
04:02 By this, we violated your very personal sphere
04:06 causing you permanent physical as well as psychological damage
04:10 Thus we apologise for violation of your right to personal protection.
Jan Ferencik
04:16 We didn’t fight for the money
04:19 We’ve been fighting for the truth to come to light
04:23 so it wouldn’t happen to other Roma women any more
04:27 The Czech Republic judges Roma people badly
04:35 because they say we’re not educated and we do bad things
04:43 There’s discrimination in the Czech Republic
04:47 We feel it a lot
Anonymous nurse
05:17 An 18 or 19 year old may be pregnant for the 3rd or 4th time
05:23 and when the labour starts her womb might just crack
05:26 That’s the reason to suggest sterilization for equally
05:30 both Roma and white women
05:33 Nowadays, it’s like this
05:34 A woman has to request it
05:36 She has to get an application form at the ambulance station and fill it in
05:40 submit it to the director’s office
05:42 Then according to her health indications three doctors either approve sterilization or deny it
05:46 Doctors at the operating theatre can’t just decide to perform it
05:52 Everything has to be signed
06:03 According to the numbers
06:05 Roma women bear more children than our women
06:07 If you want to know my opinion, it’s the policy of this country
06:13 It’s advantageous to be on maternity leave
06:16 They get maternity benefits
06:18 For example I can’t even afford a second child
06:24 They can
06:25 They have five or six children and stay on maternity leave
06:29 It’s probably advantageous for them but it wouldn’t be for me
Judge Olomouc Court
07:06 Stand up please
07:09 The verdict of the Court of First Instance
07:11 is valid and neither side can demand reimbursement
07:16 Sit down and listen to our reasons
07:26 Sterilization can only be performed with the consent
07:32 or by demand of a person who is to be sterilized according to
07:36 the Ministry of Health regulations
07:40 Obviously informed consent isn’t a question of just a few minutes
07:48 The plaintiff was asked to sign her consent to sterilization
07:53 while giving birth
07:57 Therefore, it’s the plaintiff’s right to receive an apology
08:04 and also financial compensation
Thomas Cikrt – Ministry of Health
08:17 Communism gave rise to a strange, unhealthy atmosphere in the health service
08:24 Because everything was free of charge
08:28 the doctor was seen as an infallible expert who wasn’t obliged to discuss things with the patient
08:34 If we’d been very strict
08:37 we’d have lost a big number of doctors
08:41 we’d have forbidden them practicing
08:43 They simply had that way of thinking
08:48 that they’d been taught at schools during Communism
08:49 They are changing
08:51 I don’t think repression is the right way
08:54 The doctors in question would maybe deserve to be prosecuted
08:59 and banned from practicing if they lived in Great Britain
09:07 If they’d lived for a number of years in a democratic society
09:13 and had known what is and isn’t proper
09:15 We’ve been gradually finding out for ourselves here
09:17 The doctors are guilty in the same way as we all are
Helena Ferenčíková
09:23 Roma women are simply used to having more children
09:32 A Roma woman is precious because she gives children to a Roma man, right?
09:37 But I know my husband loves me and is going to stay with me
09:46 We have two kids, and it’s enough
09:54 The main thing is that we love each other. We’re satisfied
09:59 But there’s something in our hearts saying we’d like more children
10:05 We’re still young and could have had more children
Helena Balagova
11:01 After they’d done the sterilization they discharged me from hospital after 5 or 6 days
11: 10 They gave me discharge papers
11:14 I asked the doctor about the cut on my belly
11:19 He said they sterilized me so I asked, ‘is it the IUD?’ And he said ‘no it’s not
11:30 It means you’ll never have children again’
11:38 Then I stood there dumbstruck and I cried
11:41 There was nothing I could do and I left crying
11:51 I didn’t know what they did to me because I can’t read or write
11:57 So I signed what I shouldn’t have signed
12:05 I moved here in ‘78
12:09 It used to be different. It was all nice, just white people lived here.
12:12 I was the only Roma around. There used to be gardens outside
12:17 carousels and flowers
12:18 It was super here
12:24 Since then, everyone moved away because
12:29 Roma families moved in
12: 32 and the people who’d been living here just moved away
12:38 Maybe they got scared of something
12:41 Now we’re here…just Roma families
12:56 So we’re traveling from Ostrava
12:58 It’s a long journey isn’t it, but…
Helena Balagova’s friend
13:03 What time are we supposed to get there?
13:04 Around half past one?
Helena Balagova
13:06 Maybe
Helena Balagova’s friend
13:08 It’s a long journey since 7am – a tiring one, isn’t it?
13:11 It is but
13:14 surely something will come of it - a result
Helena Balagova
13:21 So, girls, how will they welcome us in Chanov?
Helena Balagova and friends
13:23 Have you taken your guns with you?
13:25 We don’t need them
13:27 I think they’ll welcome us alright won’t they?
13:31 Or else they’ll kick us out
13:32 Why should they kick us out? We’re gypsy!
13:38 We’re gypsy and we’re going to visit gypsies
13:39 and we’ll most likely come to an agreement
13:41 Well I think so too
13:44 We’re going to tell them what we know so they know it too
13:51 I think it’ll work out well because we all have the same goal –
13:54 that’s why we’re going there after all!
14:19 You have to understand what’s being done to you
14:22 we went to see a psychologist
14:24 and if we didn’t want to go they threatened us
14:28 by taking away our social benefits
14:32 I had three children at the time
14:37 The problem is they made fools of us
14:41 and then sterilized us
14:43 Some women had 4 stitches, I have 24
14:48 I’ve had problems ever since
14:51 inflammation and who knows what else
Gwendolyn Albert
14: 55 I just want to ask
14:58 How many of you complained to the ombudsman
15:04 Has anyone signed a complaint?
15:07 All of us, all of us have signed.
Ombudsman
15:13 The old regime didn’t even try to conceal
15:18 that large Roma families for them
15:23 were the cause of many social problems
15:33 Also in general
15:36 it was believed that the Roma population was of less quality
15:41 not only in terms of health but intellect too.
15:50 I’m willing to believe
15:54 the relatively high number that’s assumed for these sterilizations
16:01 doesn’t only involve Roma women.
16:09 In general I believe a significant percentage are performed
16:18 because women request them and agree to them.
16:25 However, even doctors admit the number of sterilizations performed is relatively high
Ladies
16:30 Ladies, I don’t know who you trust
16:33 who’s reliable among you but it should be someone who can be accepted by all of you.
16:40 There might be someone
16:42 but she’s not the kind of person…none of us are
16:50 There’s one who’d be able to do it, who could get us involved.
16:56 Just that one.
16:58 Jarmila’s intelligent
17:00 but I don’t know if she wants to do it.
17:03 It doesn’t matter if she wants to do it!
17:05 The most important thing is who you trust and elect!
17:10 There is no point in Jarmila doing this
17:13 if you don’t trust her.
17:15 The success doesn’t come overnight.
17:20 You need to work for it.
Elena Gorolova
17:45 My childhood was beautiful and I was an only child.
17:48 I remember my mum dressing me up nicely,
17:52 because she was certainly proud of me
17:54 and so was my dad.
17:56 I guess they were hoping their first would be a girl, so they were both proud of me.
18:03 I had very long hair with long ponytails
18:06 and mum put large bows in my hair
18:09 and dressed me up so that
18:12 whenever we as a family went anywhere
18:17 I’d look like a little princess.
18:30 I worked for Vitcovice, in the Vitcovice Ironworks
18:38 I was often afraid of all the sparks flying around me
18:42 and I’d always go home crying that I didn’t want to go back
18:47 Then when I was 16 or 17, I met my husband.
Mr Gorolova
18:58 My wife, I’m glad I found her.
19:06 As a boy I knew nothing about life
19:10 but I always dreamt of finding a girl
19:13 a wife, and that we’d share a good life together.
19:17 Not like my parents had.
19:37 If you’re smart, you know what’s going on here
19:42 If you’re smart
19:44 you know what’s going on and what happened
19:49 but no one wants to see it or hear it.
Elena Gorolova
21:18 Roma people probably don’t want to integrate into mainstream society too much
21:24 To study and work…
21:26 Well, other Roma people work but I get the feeling
21:30 that to study….
21:31 there are less of us who study
21:36 so they look at us as if we were more like gadjos
21:40 and that we became integrated into mainstream society.
21:43 It’s as if they’re envious, they feel I’m not Roma any more, but more like a gadjo.
22:21 I came to Strasbourg because the Council of Europe invited me
22:27 to attend the exhibition of our group
22:30 the group of women who’ve been sterilized.
22:36 I was at home for such a long time
22:40 and I just wanted to shout it out
22:44 That’s why I’m shouting it out to the world.
23:00 Everything began three years ago, when several organisations arranged for a meeting of women
23:05 who had something in common, namely that their lives had been blighted and health had been interfered with.
23:18 At each of our meetings we gradually realized that we were not alone
23:23 and that we must not hide our feelings of injury and powerlessness
23:39 At each meeting we spoke more and more about what we had lived through and discovered that we suddenly felt much better
23:44 when we could finally speak openly about it.
23:56 An apple tree that stops bearing fruit is no longer useful and the gardener just chops it down for fuel.
24:00 This is how we women feel, we have lost our mission – the miraculous mission of women in this world.
24:11 Childbirth is the most beautiful thing in the world.
24:16 We talk about how many millions of us there are on this planet
24:21 and that the population is constantly increasing.
24:25 The truth is they don’t want Romani children to be born. I don’t know why.