RIGHTS-SLOVAKIA: Law Proposed against Forced Sterilisation

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ed Holt and Martina Pisarova

BRATISLAVA, Mar 14 2003 (IPS) - New legislation has been proposed following a report that more than a hundred Roma women were sterilised without their consent.

There is no legislation governing the procedure at present. Doctors carry out the operation under loose Health Ministry guideline introduced in 1972 and updated in 1985. These require doctors only to note when sterilisation should be done, for example when a woman’s health would be at risk in giving birth again.

Health Ministry advisor Karol Holoman says legislation must set out clearly under what circumstances sterilisation can be done.

"I will push for women to have 72 hours in which to give their informed approval before a sterilisation is carried out," Holoman says. "We will probably also be cautious in the approval of sterilisation after a woman has a second caesarean section, particularly when it involves young women."

A report ‘Body and Soul’ published January by the New York based Centre for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and the Slovak Advisory Centre for Civil and Human Rights (POLP) documented 110 recent cases of what it alleged was coerced sterilisation. The report was based on interviews with 230 Roma women.

The report alleged that women had been sterilised during caesarean births at hospitals mostly in eastern Slovak towns including Krompachy, Kosice, Spisska Nova Ves and Gelnica.

Some Roma women claimed they were forced to sign approval under anaesthesia. Others said the consequences of the operation were not explained to them, while some said they discovered only years later that they had been sterilised.

The report which was presented to the European Parliament said fear of a growing Roma population was behind the sterilisation.

An initial government investigation failed to find evidence to back the claims. But Interior Minister Vladimir Palko announced March 3 that a special team is being set up to further investigate the claims.

The official inquiry was launched within days of a demand from special rapporteur of the European Parliament for Slovakia, Jan Wiersma. Failure to investigate the NGO report could present "complications" with Slovakia’s entry into the European Union (EU) due next year, he warned.

Roma leaders have welcomed the move for legislation on sterilisation. "Experts should talk about this and I hope they prepare the best possible solution to suit the needs of women," says Klara Orgovanova, Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities.

The groups behind the ‘Body and Soul’ report also backed Holoman’s proposals. "Approving a law that would clearly and in detail set conditions was recommended in our report," says Barbora Bukovska from POLP.

Doctors who had dismissed the NGO report earlier have also welcomed the proposal for new legislation. "These are measures we can certainly discuss," says Dr Marian Kollar of Bratislava’s First Gynaecology Clinic. But he again denied claims that such sterilisations had taken place. "We are all waiting to see the results of the government investigation because this report has thrown a bad light on Slovak gynaecologists and healthcare in general."

Roman Vavrik, MP for the ruling Slovak Christian and Democratic Union (SDKU) has asked for a speedy government investigation. "This affair grossly damages the image of our country and is not good especially now when we are in the final stages of our integration into the EU," he says.

Many Roma, who are Europe’s largest ethnic minority, claim they are victims of systematic persecution. Slovakia has an estimated 500,000 Roma. But the number could be higher because fear of persecution stops many from declaring their true ethnicity.