On July 13, 2021, Governor Newsom signed the California state budget which included $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 provided 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 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. We initiated a robust outreach and support campaign to reach incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, and family members who could be entitled to compensation/reparations under this new program. The program was administered by the state of California’s Victims’ Compensation Board (VCB). Between 2021-2023 over 500 people applied for reparations from the state. As of today, about 120 people have received compensation.
Another feature of this historic and groundbreaking bill was to memorialize the harm done by the state and educate the public on eugenics. The bill mandated the involvement and survivors and advocates, with the intent to center the needs and desires of survivors in the process. However, most felt shut out of the process; their voices left unheard. CCWP instead came together to create a memorial quilt. Titled, Together We Rise, Together We Heal, this series of quilts was created by survivors and advocates inside and outside of state prisons. It represents the healing that comes through community and the importance of centering survivors and communities as we repair past harms.
From supporting survivors inside and outside of prison on getting compensated for being forcibly sterilized by the state, there was a direct need by incarcerated people inside that there needs to be more resources and education on people’s reproductive and medical rights while inside prison. Because of that response, a small group of advocates, researchers, as well as incarcerated people worked together to create a “Know Your Rights” Reproductive Healthcare Inside Prisons booklet that is directed at providing educational and advocacy tools for people inside prisons around reproductive and medical care.
In February 2025, CCWP helped launch a class action lawsuit against horrific OBGYN abuse at the California Institution for Women (CIW).
