The Sterilization of Leilani Muir

Abstract

From the Publisher:

"A single IQ test and misguided 'science' irreparably changed the life of a 14-year-old Canadian girl. This documentary follows Leilani Muir's search for justice and explores how eugenics (improving hereditary qualities of a race through the control of reproduction) became acceptable in the early 1900s." 

The Sterilization of Leilani Muir documents a history of sexual sterilizations performed on people labeled "feeble-minded" by the state, beginning with Alberta's Sexual Sterilization Act in 1928. Sexual sterilizations were disproportionately weaponized on Indigenous peoples, the poor, and in earlier years Eastern European immigrants (who were viewed by Canadians as ethnically inferior compared to Western Europeans). The interviewees relate their stories of institutionalization and sterilization. Government agents discuss the procedures, methods, and determining factors used to target people they labeled as "feeble-minded."

Publication Information

The Sterilization of Leilani Muir. Directed by Whiting, Glynis. Canada: National Film Board, 1996. https://www.nfb.ca/film/sterilization_of_leilani_muir/

Author
Whiting, Glynis
Publication Date
1996
Primary Resource
Secondary
Resource Type