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.
Initially, after the Eugenic Protection Law was repealed in 1996, the government refused to offer compensation, apologise, or truly acknowledge what had been happening for the previous 48 years.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 January, victims of Japan’s forced sterilisation programme were finally able to apply for compensation for the first 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.
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.
