Our petition
Please sign our petition and spread the word in your network. Available in different languages.
Forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities is a pervasive abuse and a gross violation of their fundamental rights. Nevertheless, it is ongoing and widespread across Europe and worldwide.
EDF under its commitment to women’s rights and gender equality is advocating to end forced sterilisation on all Members States.
Update: 7 February 2024:
The European Commission presented a proposal for a Directive on Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence to the European Parliament and the Council on the 8th of March 2022. We strongly campaigned for it to include the criminalisation forced sterilization of forced sterilisation in this proposed Directive. Unfortunately, we were not successful. Read our reaction.
Now, we renew our call for:
Our report “Forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities in the European Union” reveals that at least 13 EU countries still authorise forced sterilisation. Due to this unacceptable situation, we are calling for the EU to insert a total ban on this practice in the upcoming legislation on combatting violence against women.
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 has been revised. There is no legal possibility in Austria to authorise forced sterilisation against a person’s will.
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:
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.
Harmful and terrible practices may still take place, in silence and impunity, in all EU member states. Join us to #EndForcedSterilisation.
Please sign our petition and spread the word in your network. Available in different languages.
If you have additional information from your country, please share it with us.
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Marine Uldry
Human Rights Policy Coordinator
marine.uldry@edf-feph.org