Girls take a rest in downtown Kashgar. (WEI XIAOHAO/CHINA DAILY)
Situation changes
Yang Yuye, deputy director of the Kashgar Prefecture Health Commission, said that before 2018, locals' views on having children were deeply influenced by religious extremism.
"Under such influence, women had no say in how many children they wanted to have, but just kept having them. In a way, many of them become procreation tools," Yang said. "The situation began to change after the measures to eradicate religious extremism took effect. This move also greatly liberated women."
Yang said women now know it is important to consider their health and family situation when planning to have children, as gender equality and reproductive health have been promoted in the process of eradicating extremism.
In an attempt to confuse people, categorizing an IUD as a tool to sterilize women, is clearly ill-intended, Yang added.
"An IUD is just one of the long-term contraception methods. It can be effective for up to eight years and is easily removed when a woman wants to get pregnant. We have never forced women to be sterilized, as their procreation rights are fully protected by law," she said.
Referring to claims by some women that they were forced to have IUD insertion surgeries at vocational education and training centers, Yang said such allegations were "quite absurd".
"IUD insertion or removal surgeries must be conducted at proper hospitals. No clinic at a vocational education and training center is qualified to carry out the procedure, so these claims can only be lies," she said.
