On July 13, 2021, Governor Newsom signed the California state budget which includes $7.5 million to provide reparations to survivors of state sponsored forced sterilizations. California is the first state in the country to provide reparations to survivors who were sterilized while incarcerated in its women’s prisons. Between 2006 and 2010, a state audit revealed that at least 144 people, the majority of whom identify as Black and Latinx, were illegally sterilized during labor and delivery while in custody in women’s prisons. Most of these people were never even made aware that they had been sterilized. The law will now provide compensation for any survivor of coercive sterilization performed on an individual under the custody and control of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after 1979. Most of these people were never even made aware that they had been sterilized. See the article Belly of the Beast: California’s dark history of forced sterilizations to learn more.

The California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) was one of the co-sponsors of this historic bill. Please help get the word out widely to incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, and their family members who may be entitled to compensation/reparations under this new program. The program will be administered by the state of California’s Victims’ Compensation Board (VCB) and will be supported by community groups, including CCWP.

Download the application and the instructions below and share with your networks. You can also download the Prison Medical Record Request guide which you can find after the application.

If you have submitted an application and have been denied, CCWP can provide information for your appeal or your reapplication. Please contact us at info@womenprisoners.org or call 415-255-7036 ext. 314.