The one thousand four-hundred-page report submitted to parliament this week detailed how sixteen thousand five hundred people were operated on without their consent between 1948 and 1996, under the law which aimed to “prevent the birth of poor-quality descendants…and to protect the life and health of the mother”. Most of those affected were women.
It also revealed another 8 thousand other people gave their consent – almost certainly under pressure – while approximately 60 thousand women had abortions due to hereditary illnesses. Victims of the sterilization program have campaigned for decades, seeking financial damages and recognition of the physical and mental anguish they endured. So far, four courts have awarded damages to victims but others have sided with the government, saying that the 20-year statute of limitations has passed.
