The Dark Human Cost Behind the World’s Sugar Industry

In India’s sugarcane fields, missing a single day of work can trap an entire family in inescapable debt. For thousands of women, keeping pace with the harvest has come at a devastating physical cost: their wombs. In Wombs of Debt, producer and director Noopur Jambheker and producer Mohammad Dawood travel to Maharashtra’s Beed district to uncover the harrowing human cost behind a global cash crop. To eliminate menstrual cycles, avoid pregnancy, and guarantee they never miss a day in the field, thousands of young women undergo surgical hysterectomies. In Beed district, the hysterectomy rate stands at 17%—more than five times India’s national av (Source: The Independent | Region: New Delhi, India)