Non-consensual sterilisation of those considered genetically inferior persists in some parts of the world today. Copy link. twitter. facebook. whatsapp. Just last week, in the Miyagi prefecture of Japan, the local governor met victims of an official eugenics policy to apologise for the suffering they underwent. “On behalf of the prefecture, I would like to offer my heartfelt apologies for the immense suffering caused to the 900 (victims),” said Murai Yoshihiro while lowering his head.
For many, the words “forced sterilisation” bring to mind Nazi Germany and the devastating eugenic policies pursued by fascist regimes in the 1930s and 1940s. But the non-consensual sterilisation of those considered genetically inferior continued through the 20th century and persists in some parts of the world today. In January, victims of Japan’s forced sterilisation programme were finally able to apply for compensation for the first time. Between 1948 and 1996, at least 16,500 people were forcibly sterilised in Japan under the country’s Eugenic Protection Law. Nearly 60,000 more underwent abortions without, or with only dubious consent. Most were mentally handicapped people or those with hereditary diseases.
As Japan finally addresses this legacy, victims of forced sterilisation in Peru are still fighting for compensation after 370,000 people were sterilised in what the UN has described as a potential crime against humanity. And in the United States, India, China and parts of Europe, non-consensual sterilisations continue to this day. As with the Nazis, almost all cases can be traced back to the discredited pseudo science of eugenics which was developed in the UK at around the turn of the last century and had many supporters, including Winston Churchill.
Japan’s Eugenic Protection Law was introduced in the wake of World War II. It granted medical institutions the right to administer sterilisations and abortions without the consent of patients. Of the 25,000 people sterilised under the programme, according to government figures only 8,000 gave consent. The legitimacy of the consent in these cases is disputed. A large number of the victims were children, some as young as nine years old. In Miyagi prefecture, in the northwest of the main island, more than half of the 859 sterilised between 1963 and 1981 were under the age of 18.
At a press conference last month in Hyogo prefecture, a deaf woman, now in her 80s, described the emotional pain of being given an abortion without her consent. “I was taken to the hospital, and I thought I would be going to the general medicine department. I was very surprised because I was taken to the gynaecology department … I am unable to forget what happened at that time”. In her prefecture alone, there are “14 or 15 other [deaf people] who suffered harm” that are known about, “but there are undoubtedly more”, said Yoshimichi Hongo, chairman of the Hyogo Prefecture Association for the Deaf.
There are about 25,000 people now eligible for the compensation, but their journey to this point has been far from straightforward. Initially, after the Eugenic Protection Law was repealed in 1996, the government refused to offer compensation, apologise, or truly acknowledge what had been happening for the previous 48 years. In 2019, after many years of campaigning by those affected, the government finally issued an apology and an initial round of compensation for some who suffered. However, the amount offered was only ¥3.2m, around £22,000 at the time. Dissatisfied, a group of victims brought a lawsuit later the same year, which was rejected on the grounds that the 20-year statute of limitations had expired. Several further suits were rejected for the same reason. Even in 2023, as the lower house of the Japanese Diet was conducting an inquiry into the scandal, at least 26 of Japan’s 47 prefectures refused to provide uncensored documents.
After years of foot-dragging by authorities, last July the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that the former Eugenic Protection Law had violated the constitution, and the statute of limitations did not apply. This paved the way for a new round of government compensation, with sterilised individuals now set to receive ¥15m (£78,000), their spouses ¥5m (£26,000) and those that underwent abortions ¥2m (£10,000). While a major improvement on the original compensation offer, many still feel it is not a fair recompense for what has “ruined” their lives, and some have already launched new litigation.
In Peru, after the 1992 coup d’etat that cemented president Alberto Fujimori’s grasp on power, the country’s National Population Programme was given orders to reduce fertility rates. The scheme largely targeted impoverished, illiterate women from rural areas, particularly Quechua-speaking indigenous people. The programme was further expanded in 1995, and the often ill-equipped and poorly trained medical staff were purportedly given quotas and financial incentives to carry out more procedures.
