todaday, we consider the use f fire in agriculture. in belize, we e nd out about alternatives to burning crop residues. ever heard of pangolins? their scales are worth a fortune, which makes them extremely sought-after by poachers. and in peru, we hear about how forced sterilization has shattered the lives of hundreds of thousands of women. contraceptives come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

but the most common method of all is sterilization. this involves undergoing a procedure to be made infertile. according to a 2015 study, 19% of all women in the world were sterilized, most of them in developing countries. in india, the number was thought to be 39%. that's all well and good, as long as the women chose the option for themselves. but shockingly, that tends to be the exception rather than the rule. around 20 years ago, in an effort to tackle povererty, te peruvian government had more than 300,000 women forcibly sterilized. the result? lifelong pain and suffering. reporter: it's the start of another day for rute zuñiga. as the 48-year-old makes breakfast for her husband, daughter, and grandchild, she struggles with pain, in her knees, her hips, and her back.

it's been the same every day for the past 20 years, ever since she was sterilized in an operation performed against her will. rute: they tied my arms to the bed. and my legs, too. they pressed my head against the mattress and injected me with an anesthetic. while they carried on talking to me i lost consciousness, although not completely. i could feel when they were sewing me up after the operation. it was very painful. reporter: 20 years ago, forced sterilizations were a widespread practice here in the peruvian andes. the area is poor and largely dependent on agriculture. since ththe operation,n, rutes been unable to work in the

fields without pain. as a result, she's rarely able to help her family. rute's experience is no isolated case. up to 300,000 indigenous peruvian women are thought to have been forcibly sterilized. today, she's meeting with other local women who are willing to speak out about their get yourself sterilized. otherwise you're no different from a dog or r a pig. reporter: rute has managed to persuade t the women to openep about the problems they're experiencing. marta: since the sterilization, everything hurts. from my knees right up to the scar, which gogot infected. reporter: for years, the forced procedures were a taboo subject here in this traditional community.

but more and more women are no longer willing to keep quiet about the problems and the impact on their families. doing here he thought i w w there voluntarily. i don't even want to think about how fate dealt me such a hand. since that day, life with my husband has never been the same. reporter: it was usually nurses and police officers who came into the villages and took the quechua women away. they were brought to this local health center. they say the same doctor who sterilized them, washington ortíz, is still working here 20 years later. but t we're unable to find hi, either here or in the private clinic next door where he's also said to work. we get turned away. and our written requests for an interview go unanswered.

a short while later, rute takes us to see a woman who has had an especially rough time. serafina quispe was so heavily anaesthetized that she was initially thought to be dead. serafina: my family was told that someone in the mortuary had been resuscitated and was calling for them. i was dead, but i was fortunate enough to come back to life. reporter: that t terrible experience took place here, at the alberto lorena hospital in cusco, a place meant to be dedicated to preserving life. we meet a nurse who's willing to talk to us about what happened. libia pinares says the sterilizations were carried out systematically on the orders of the peruvian government. libia: it was a directive from the health ministry. so hospitals like us were

required to carry out the procedures. reporter: the directive, applied here in cusco and in many other towns with a majority indigenous population. libia tells us it was a campaign directed against the indigenous quechuas. libia: we had to fulfil a monthly quota. otherwisise we'd have been fir. it was so extrtreme that nurss were even getting themselves sterilized to meet the quota. reporter: who gave the orders, we ask. libia: the health ministry in lima. it came from the government of president fujimori. reporter: throughout the 199990, peru was governed by alberto fujimori, who was later jailed for human rights abuses. his family planning program was officially aimed at fighting poverty. but not only were most of the sterilizations carried out without the women's consent, the program was also deeply racist, targeting only the indigenous minority. now protests are growing. more and more people say it's

time for justice to finally be served. rute zuñiga has suffered for 20 years from complications linked to the operation. but to this day, she's never received any compensation. rute: my husband and i can no longer be happy, because the small amount of money that we earn always has to be used for my medication. also, i can't work in the fields anymore. it is all just so horrible. reportrter: a bitterer fate, sd by manany of the womomen here h up in the andes. and to this day, the peruvian state refuses to accept responsibility for the grave injustice suffered here. host: repression and discrimination are part of life

for many women a around the wow. on o our new facebebook channew women, you'll find sries about disthose taking a stand, andife inspiring others to do the same. dw w women gives a v voice toe women of our world. what more could tourists on safari wish for than to see wild animals in their natural habitat? sadly, however, widespread poaching is threatening some species with extinction. onone african elephant is killd every 15 minutes on average because their tusks are worth big bucks. that adds up to 35,000 grey giants every year. but the most sought-afteter anil is the pangolin, or scaly anteater, a shy creature that has roamed our planet for millennia. up to 100,000 of them are killed every year. they are found in southern asia and sub-saharan africa. and animal rights activists in

south africa are trying to save as many as they can. reporter: they walk on two legs, have their own protective armor, and require armed guards. there's one on watch every time animal keepers take aura the pangolin out for a walk. that's because there's a high risk of her being abducted. her scales are worth 15,000 euros on the black market. aura was just a juvenile when she was rescued from poachers. nathalie: we have many security measures in place which we don't make known to the public. so, overlapping security helps us, and the unpredictably of the rehab of pangolins. we're coconstantly changing sis and locations. some days theyey're well, some daysys they're not well. so there's no set pattern as to when we are out in the bush or

where we're going. reporter: sometimes police seize illegally trafficked pangolin scales, like here in malaysia. hundreds of pangolins died to fill the contents of these sacks. many believe the scales can help against cancer or promote a better sex life. but they're actually made of the same substance as fingernails. pangolin meat is also highly sought after. in parts of africa and china, a bowl of soup served with a baby pangolin can sell for 3000 euros. the animals at nathalie rogess satuarary we all r resed fromm pangothe e hands of poaoachers. sosome of the papangolins needed medical help when they arree beuse e theyaven't't een in weeks. poachers d don't kill pangngos immediately, preferring torarade ve s specins. some a animals are s still so g that natathalie rogersrs has tod them milk frfrom a syringeg.

aura needsds to gain weieight,. every day she gets put on the scales. today she's 4.8 kilos. since she arrived at the animal sanctuary fiveve months ago, shs gained about a kilo. one more and she can be released. nathalie: there's still so much to learn on them. on her weight that she arrived in at, they would usually still be in the mother's tererritor, not milk-dependent but still within the mother's territory before they became efficient enough to find their own food and find their own territory. so, it's unknown what happened to her mother. reporter: a team of rangers is dedicated specifically to tracking down the poachers. glen thompson is in charge of the group. he shows us antelope tracks. but he says tracks left by pangolins are hard to find in the bush. over the course of many years observing animals in the wild, he and his colleagues have only ever seen one. glen: pangolin, if you look at

the bottomom of their feet theye got a very similar foot to an elephant, so it's like very soft and got little lines in it. and they only walk on their two back feet. so most of the time to find signs of thehe pangolin is whn it's walking its tail. it'll leave little marks in the road like this as it hits and goes on. and it's extremely difficult to see this way. reporter: glen thompson and his rangers know how rhino poachers hunt, but they can only guess how illegal hunters track down the hidden pangolins. glen: it probably suggests that they're probably using dogs to locate the pangolin during the day, because pangolin mostly move around at night and they're normally in the burrows during the day. so we suspect it's a lot of dog poachingng. so, i mean, if they saw it, they'd pick it up, it rolls up into a ball, then they'd just put it in a bag and walk off. reporter: thompson and his team have repeaeatedly confiscated illegal goods and live animals. they've also arrested a number of poachers, although they've probably caught only a fraction

of the criminal gangs that operate here. the rangers are dependent on titips from local residents. glen: so we'll get information that there's someone in aa village wanting to sell a pangolin. as soon as we get that information and we can verify that there is a live pangolin, we'll set up a stiting operatin wiwith the sfbs and then we'llo in and we'll affect their arrest, collect the pangolin, and then take it for medical treatment and medical assessment. rereporter: these poachers stopd to refuel their car. the pangolin was still alive and lying on the cargo area. the rangers had received a tip from a witness. a rescue mission like this is what saved aura and gave her a new temporary home. now she can at least go for walks back in the bush. at the moment, still accompanied by her own personal bodyguard. holot of dedication. planet'ts wildour obobal ideas sereries a

testifies s to that. ththis week, we e take a look ae effects of slash-and-burn ad by up 500 milon smlholdersorldwideand one wi devastang conseencesburn ad r the enenronment. our repoporter katja d döhne trtravelled to b belize to meeeh tivists in the tedo o reon whwho are promoting more environmentally friendly alternatives. reporter: april anmay are e e hottest monbelize..he ye i in it's a t time when manany fars set fire to o their land, ,a tradition that dates back to ancient times. gustavavo: it destroroys biodiviversity, it d destroyse soso, it can destroy cpsps, it n dedestrocommmmunits. it's jusust so destrucuctiv. it's's not the besest way to actice agriculture. repoer: : known

slash-and-d-burn, the fifirs actutually make ththe earth fee for a shorort time becauause pt remains fallll to the grououndd mix withth the otherwiseararrn soilil. t the fires also releaease huge amamounts of cararbon dioxide o the e atmosphere. we've comeme to toledo, in the soututh of belize.e. the didistrict is hohome to the indigenousus q'eqchi'-mayaya,o trtrace their roroots back toe ancicient ma. they've kept many of theirfofor, inclcluding slash-h-and-burn agriculture.e. the past, it was more sustaiblble because fafarmers oy cultivateded enough landnd to d their famililies. gustavo: my ancestors kn w what it w was to protecect nature, ,y knew that. they were onwiwith nate. but as commemercializationon ofd cocomes into thehe picture, wewt making money off food. so we e sacrifice all l of the

things like nature and sustnanabilityo mamake mey. porter: gustavo requena worksfn ya'axché. the ngngo is working w with ll rmers to introduce methods atat are me susustaible fofor ya'axché. our modern times. anotheprproblem th t the fes ll is that t they often g get ouf cocontrol, like e this one, wh hahas spread to o a neighborinig field.d. gustavavo: our goal l would noe to elimiminate fires c compley because it's's a part of the culte e and a rt o of th traditio wh we woulwant is s to put i placacthe best practicesoo ensu t that werotetect bibiodiversity a and other fa. becacause escape f fires do ao threaten other fms, , beuse whwhen a fe esescapes and yoyoue no c control over r it, you cann damage c communities a and peos ves. reporter: so alternativeptptions are neneed. gustavo reena a anhis ngo are pursng a a farming.differentsta in a protectedororest ar,

which ya'axché has the right to use, smallholder farmers are being taught how t to grow orgac cocoa. that gives them an income, ththout having t to damage the forerest. because e e cocoa plas tutually need ththe she of thee johnn: here e in a reserve there are ststrict rules and guidelis that we e abide by. for exexample, zero use of pesticides, chemicals, and the use of fire is conolled. reporter: in another part of the forest, outside the e protectd reserve, thehere are plansns to starart growing cocorn and be. inststead of slashsh-and-bun agriculturure, inga treeees are king ththem three yeaears ago.t ththe tops of ththe trees now wa

cacapy overhead. and the leavesndnd seedshatt have falallen to the g ground e created a ninitrogen-rich h sois mumulch. there i is black soil. sesee? it has a a lot of mulchc. we have rerestored back k the . it's more e fertile, youou can. reporter: with help frfrom yaxcxché, plalanso sow ththe first maize seeds in a few weeks. bubut firfor the planants.f thes the e trees will g grow back an when he useded to slash-anand-, the la wouould l wastete f yeararafter the harvest. now wildfefe is sttingng to when he usedreturn.lash-anand-, ororlando: firstst i don't evee any more birirds around. and even rababbits. and even deer, there was visitothe e otr day, there was a a deer here. a and i am hap. they a are like, comoming back, closer. because e if i was goioing too

burning, allll the smoke o ore fifire is going g to chase so . even animals are aaiaid ofire. so ty justst goto run.n. re the benefits of theseenenas hsustnanable faing g meths. fas he sayays it's obvioious that ts need t to change. re, another piece of forest hahas justeen n burn to ththe he sayays it's obvioious that ts needgrnd..change. gustavo: of course i do feel sasaddened when n i look at it.. but i i also feel prproud. becaususe it shows t that if i t do it anand if my orgaganizatn doesn't do i it, imy cololleues dodot do it, then who else is ining to do it?? so it giveves me a sensese of e to know ththat we are dodoinge right thing. host: what's the secret to a successful marrie?

how do married cououplesemain happppy together w well into d age? it's not always s easy, especicy for couples s whose faith prohitits themrom m livi together before e e wedding.g. in these casases, pre-marital counselling can be worth its weight in gold. reporter: tuqa and achmed are getting married, and they've bought this apartmenent, but ty have no plans to live in it yet. ahmed and tuqa are strict muslims, and that means they can't live together before being married. they'll move in after the wedding, if it's ready by then. right now there's still plenty to do. tuqa: we're under a lot of pressure. we have to see what's been done and whwhat hasn't. ahmed: therere's always somethg new to deal with, , and we dont have much time. reporter: tuqa and ahmed are not quite sure what to expect from their life together, so they're also keen to get some marriage guidance before the wedding. they're turning to the dar

al-ifta, a government institute that provides guidance for many sunni muslims. it's also known as the fatwa house, as it's responsible for drafting religious edicts as well. the couple is interested to see what the classes will be like at the very conservative institution. sheikh amr is something of a star amongst the clerics here. today he's giving advice to young people who want to marry, with a mixture of theology, knowledge of human nature, and a good dose of humor. sheikh amr: i have a question. who is more able to deal with suffering, a man or a woman? raise your hand if you think it's a man. a-ha, only the men are raising their hands. not a single woman. reporter: so much fun at the venerable fatwa house is unusual. a theologian who not only

preaches, but gives advice, without talking down to people. and he even hands over to a woman, to a non-theologian. rasha is a couple's therapist. incorporating psychology at this official center for religious instruction is an unusual approach for the muslim world. tuqa: what i did not know is that happiness is a decision. if i want to be happy, i have to make a decision and accept the challenges. reporter: the courses are also designed to help couples figure out if they are even well matched. that led some to no longer want to get married. but today, sheikh amr is on his way to visit a couple for whom it worked out. mahmoud was in sheikh amr's marriage counseling class with his now-wife amina. they have been married for nine months now, and they have a small farm together.

sheikh amr wants t to know wht they thought was the main thing they learned in his class. amina: i learned in the class that i can't just assume certain things. for example, that the man will be dominant and the woman has to be submissive. it's not a about oppression. instead it's more about understanding. mahmoud: to accept that the other person has a different opinion and thinks differently makes life easier. reporter: but sheikh amr's approach doesn't go over well with everyone. an attitude of acceptance towards those who think differently, whether women, christians, or foreigners, many orthodox muslims see this as a betrayal of islam. but the sheikh says the fatwa house tries to keep an open mind, even when it comes to science. that was unthinkable for a long

time. sheikh amr: sociology and psychology are deeply rooted in religion. and in religion itself there are three things that are important. you have to understand the text, ununderstand thehe religious va, and know how to apply them in ththe real world. without these sciences, we cannot grasp reality or apply religion to reality. rereporter: tuqa and ahmeded sl can't believe it. the training schedule at the dar al-iftfta includes not only sx education and family planning, but also interior design. tuqa: we want to put everything that they tell us into practice. ahmed: i think it's very good. religious and spiritual aspects are very important, as is furnishing your home.

reporter: the two head to the eklego furniture store, known for its straightforward, clear designs. here they meet with interior designer jasmin from the fatwaa house. jasmin encourages them to break with the arabesque tradition in favor of more modern designs. for tuqa and ahmed, this is a whole new way of thinking. ahmed: there are two sides to married life, and it's good that we're dealing with both the religious and the secular.r. i thought it would be all about religion, which i'm very interested in, because in my view that's more important. but i think it's good that they brought the two topics together. reporter: as they prepare for married life, tuqa and ahmed are learning that it's all a matter of finding the right balance. thanks surprisingly to cairo's normally very conservative fatwa house. host: and that's all from us this week. but don't forget, we love hearing from you.

send us an email to global3000@dw.com. and check us out on facebook, dw women. see you next week. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,

[water bubbles] narrator: the detroit river up north shaped the