Coercion and population policies, Part 1

The unsustainable growth of the global population needs to be halted through informed voluntary action, including empowerment of women, family planning, and increased use of modern contraceptives. Coercive population policies such as those used for 35 years in China, in India 1975-77, and more recently in Peru, are unacceptable and must be condemned. But many millions of women and couples around the world face pro-natalist forms of coercion, such as being forced to give birth to unwanted children, in the absence of contraceptive services and legal abortion. All countries have some population policy, whether explicit or implicit: all attempt to influence fertility levels and population size, in various ways. What makes a population policy sustainable and sound? In this first of two blogs on the topic, we take a look at the history of coercive policies.

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