Screening: Trial of a Child Denied

Trial of a Child Denied is a gritty investigation into the coerced sterilisation of Roma women in the Czech Republic.

Directed by Michelle Coomber the film focuses on two women Helena Ferencikova and Elena Gorlova, both of whom signed  documents whilst in labour that authorised their own sterilisation. Both are fighting for legal justice against the hospitals that sterilised them.

Helena and Elena’s situations are a microcosm for the multiple sources of social injustice facing today’s Roma. Through their poignant and unnerving stories, this film unearths the shocking anachronism of the practice of forced sterilization that continued long after the Communist mandate.

Length: 25 mins
Directed by: Michelle Coomber
Produced by: Dana Wilson