India is the second-largest producer of sugarcane globally, but the demand comes at a brutal cost for some women.
One woman described feeling like “the system has claimed my very womb just so I can keep working.”
An estimated 1.5 million people cut sugarcane across the country, often working 14-hour days for as little as ₹400 (£3). Working in pairs, usually husband and wife, they labour from early morning until night, stopping only to load the harvested cane onto trucks. With few employment opportunities at home, many turn to the arduous work to feed their families. Some travel more than 500km from their villages, spending months in makeshift camps without toilets or clean water.
For female cutters, managing their periods in those conditions adds another painful challenge. Missing a single shift can mean losing wages and facing a fine, leaving some feeling obliged to undergo hysterectomies – surgery to remove their wombs – so they can keep working.
Poornima, a worker considering the operation in the hope of easing her suffering, said: “My suffering isn’t reducing. If I continue this work, it’ll only grow. If I can stop lifting such heavy weights, maybe it’ll be better. But we don’t have an option other than to do this job.”