Blow the Whistle Pitch Deck
© 2021 Syncro Studios LTD.
Episode 2: The Uterus Collector
Cold Open: “What is he, the uterus collector? He goes around collecting everybody’s uterus’,” Dawn Wooten
The Crime: ICE performs unwanted and unnecessary hysterectomies on inmates, no covid-19 protections for inmates or staff
The Witness: Dawn Wooten is a single mother with five children
Gathering the Evidence: Witnessed evidence being destroyed, fabricated, and was told by inmates they didn’t understand why they had to get a hysterectomy
Blowing the Whistle: Filed a 27-page complaint with the DHS Office of Inspector General
The Retaliation: Demoted, permanent leave of absence and currently fights for unemployment benefits
Unsolved: Detainees will no longer be housed at ICDC
It’s December in Tifton, Georgia. We find Dawn Wooten, a single mother with five children decorating a Christmas tree in her living-room while on the phone answering press inquiries. It’s Taco Tuesday and her children are excited to start cooking. Wooten navigates between taking care of her kids, the holidays, and prepping for congressional briefings, all while keeping her family safe amidst an onslaught of death threats.
This is her life after she blew the whistle, filing a complaint against the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Ocilla, Georgia for egregious medical malpractices against migrants detained at ICDC. While at the facility, Wooten was a nurse and saw the staff ignore COVID-19 safety protocols, shred medical requests submitted by detained immigrants, and fabricate medical records. There was also a failure to test symptomatic detained immigrants, and to quarantine those who had been in close contact with confirmed or suspected COVID cases.
“I would cry,” Wooten says, reflecting on what she had seen after a shift. She worried about the detainees locked up and unable to protect themselves, but also about contracting the virus herself, imperiling her own health, and bringing it home to her children. “I’ve got a kid with asthma.”
More jarring are the red flags regarding the rate at which hysterectomies were performed on immigrant women under ICE custody. Wooten’s official complaint states that ICDC was performing hysterectomies on people without their informed consent, referring to the doctor who performed them, a Georgia gynecologist, Dr. Mahendra Amin, as the “uterus collector.”
Pauline Binam recounts her time at ICDC as a detainee. In August 2019, Binam saw Dr. Amin for a consultation after experiencing irregular menstrual cycles. She was told she needed a D&C procedure. When she awoke, she was informed that one of her fallopian tubes had been removed. She was no longer able to give birth.
When Binam came forward about the unwanted gynecological procedure performed on her and she was retaliated against. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement suddenly attempted to deport her to Cameroon - a country she left at the age of 2 - to keep her from sharing her story.
By November 11, 2019 ICE had already deported six former patients who complained about Dr. Amin and at least seven more had been notified of their removal. In September of 2021, detainees will no longer be housed at ICDC.