6/3/14

WHO Issues joint statement condemning forced, coercive and involuntary sterilization

The World Health Organization report begins by acknowledging that sterilization is the most-used contraceptive method and fully acceptable by consenting adults who choose it freely.

There in lays the problem. According to Transgender Europe 21 countries in Europe require forced sterilization for identity recognition of a trans person.

In the age of enlightenment TWENTY ONE countries!

RED Sterilization Required
Grey Legal Gender Reconiztion 
Blue Sterilization Not Required

Source World Health Organization (WHO):

Like any other contraceptive method, sterilization should only be provided with the full, free and informed consent of the individual. However, in some countries, people belonging to certain population groups, including people living with HIV, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, and transgender and intersex persons, continue to be sterilized without their full, free and informed consent .

Other individuals may also be at risk of coercive sterilization, such as persons with substance dependence.While both men and women are subject to such practices, women and girls continue to be disproportionately impacted.


Sterilization without full, free and informed consent has been variously described by international, regional and national human rights bodies as an involuntary, coercive and/or forced practice, and as a violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to health, the right to information, the right to privacy, the right to decide on the number and spacing of children, the right to found a family and the right to be free from discrimination. Human rights bodies have also recognized that forced sterilization is a violation of the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

International human rights bodies and professional organizations have explicitly condemned coercive population policies and programmes, noting that decisions about sterilization should not be subject to arbitrary requirements imposed by the government (36–38) and that states’ obligations to protect persons from such treatment extend into the private sphere, including where such practices are committed by private individuals, such as health-care professionals. Coerced and/or forced sterilization of women has also been characterized as a form of discrimination and violence against women. Any form of involuntary, coercive or forced sterilization violates ethical principles, including respect for autonomy and physical integrity, beneficence and non-maleficence.

This statement aims to contribute to the elimination of forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization. It reaffirms that sterilization as a method of contraception and family planning should be available, accessible, acceptable, of good quality, and free from discrimination, coercion and violence, and that laws, regulations, policies and practices should ensure that the provision of procedures resulting in sterilization is based on the full, free and informed decision-making of the person concerned. It highlights guiding principles for the prevention and elimination of coercive sterilization and provides recommendations for legal,

Eliminating forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization - An interagency statement

CRPD United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
WHO World Health Organization


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