In Los Angeles, a monument in honor of women who were forcibly sterilized in the 1960s

California forcibly sterilized more than 20,000 women before the law authorizing this practice was repealed in 1979. And it took until August 2021 for the state to recognize the horror of this policy claiming to fight against poverty and its responsibility. For years, sterilization has primarily targeted black and Latino women. To sexism was added racism. Often it was enough to explain that a young woman was “of small virtue” for her to have surgery.

With a work inaugurated this summer, the artist Phung Huynh wanted to pay tribute to the thousands of victims. The art installation weighs almost three tons and is named Survive (Survival). It is made up of 21 steel panels forming a disc 6.5 meters in diameter, with an engraving representing the hands of the Virgin of Guadalupe (the Virgin who would have appeared to a native in 1531). Leaves and roses complete the decor, inspired by the patterns of Mexican huipil clothing. The structure was installed in the courtyard of LAC + USC Hospital, where thousands of these sterilizations took place.

The piece features lighting placed under the sculpture which illuminates a form of “collective poem”, said Phung Huynh. You can read there “I feel a lot of sadness inside”, “mthe song is over» or “If you speak English, they treat you one way. If you don’t speak English, they treat you differently.”

This sculpture also recalls the courage of the ten working-class Latin American women who filed a class action lawsuit against the medical center. They had testified at the time to the deceptions used by medical personnel to obtain consent forms for sterilization. The case, known as Madrigal v. Quilligan, helped establish the frameworks for safe maternal care and the safeguards protecting women’s rights in the United States.

Inside the hospital, four quilts are also on display, bearing images of hope and words of encouragement designed by mothers, activists, women who have given birth in the hospital. “It has never been more important to support the creation of an equitable health care system in LA and that means coming to terms with our past,” said Jorge Orozco, chief executive of LAC+USC.

Phung Huynh, 44, is an associate professor of art at Los Angeles College and artist-in-residence at the Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs. Accustomed to highlighting, “invisible”, for example, she made a work in March, in homage to the Cambodian immigrants called “Khmerians” who have survived the aftermath of war and genocide.