Updated September 2024

Despite our advocacy calling on the EU to ban forced sterilisation in its Directive on Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, this was not successful.  However, the Directive still means that Member States will need to make legislative and policy changes in the area of violence against women. This is another opportunity for national advocacy to ban forced sterilisation and protect victims.

Read our reaction to the agreed Directive. 

We renew our call for:

Our report “Forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities in the European Union” reveals that at least 12 EU countries still authorise forced sterilisation. Due to this unacceptable situation, we are calling for a total ban of forced sterilisation in European countries.  

The report is also available in Easy-To-Read

Please note that information from the launch of the report will be progressively updated.
The information for Austria and Malta have been revised. There is no legal possibility in Austria to authorise forced sterilisation against a person’s will. In February, Malta formally banned forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities.

Watch the Executive Summary Report in Sign Language below

Transcription:

Forced sterilisation is a gross violation of fundamental rights. Moreover, it is a harmful practice and example of gender-based violence that is still inflicted mainly on people with disabilities, Roma and intersex people across Europe.

It is prohibited under numerous international texts: the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, among others. Nevertheless, it is still allowed by law in several EU Member States.

As of August 2022, we found that:

• Only 9 EU Member States explicitly criminalise forced sterilisation as a distinct offence in their criminal code1.
• At least 13 EU Member States still allow some forms of forced sterilisation in their legislation: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia2. They authorise either a guardian, a legal representative, an administrator or a doctor to consent to thesterilisation of a person with disabilities on their behalf. Update: Malta prohibits forced sterilisation from 2024;
• 3 Member States authorise the forced sterilisation of minors: Czechia, Hungary and Portugal.
• In at least 3 EU Member States the use of contraception or sterilisation can be a requirement for admission to residential institutions: Belgium, France and Hungary.

Although not always explicitly named as such, the widespread practice of sterilising a person without their free, prior and informed consent and/or knowledge is forced sterilisation.

For more information about legal capacity and forced sterilisation, read our “Human Rights Report on legal capacity: choice and control” published in September 2024.

• “A silenced truth – stories of forced sterilisation in the EU”. Report 2022
• Report “Ending forced sterilisation of women and girls with disabilities – 2017” 
• EDF Proposal for amendments on the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence 
• Legal Advice on the criminalisation of forced sterilisation by the EU

Our campaign on the media

• Politico Pro: MEPs’ push to ban forced sterilization of disabled women fails
• AgenceEurope: Violence against women, European Disability Forum criticises absence of measures against forced sterilisation in European directive
• EUObserver : EU’s first gender-based violence law a ‘big disappointment’
• EUObserver: The voices of EU’s forcibly-sterilised disabled women
• Malta Independent : Parliament begins discussing ban on forced sterilisation
• ARTE documentary – Handicap et stérilisations forcées: la fin d’un crime?
• Euronews – series of reports on forced sterilisation in Europe
• Social Europe: Making women with disabilities visible
• Lasvolta.it – Ue: le donne con disabilità sono vittime di sterilizzazione forzata
• Superando.it: Diritti delle donne con e senza disabilità: serve una svolta reale e concreta
• Times Malta – On the right side of the history
• Faire France -Faut-il changer la loi autorisant la stérilisation des femmes handicapées?
• ZDF – Zwangssterilisation: EU-Parlament will Verbot
• La Vanguardia. Cermi Mujeres celebra el “gran avance” de la nueva directiva de lucha contra la violencia hacia las mujeres

Communications Actions

• Social Media Package 2023 – Content to adapt and share within your network

Marine Uldry
Human Rights Policy Coordinator
marine.uldry@edf-feph.org