Campaigners, including Spanish disability rights activist Cristina Paredero, are seeking an E.U.-wide ban on the forced sterilization of people with disabilities. Forced sterilization remains legal or not explicitly banned in 12 of the EU's 27 members, including Portugal, Finland and Croatia.

Brussels

Campaigners are working towards establishing an E.U.-wide prohibition on the forced sterilization of individuals with disabilities, highlighting a significant human rights concern within the European Union. Among the advocates for this cause is Spanish disability rights activist Cristina Paredero, who is actively involved in pushing for legislative changes across the EU to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Despite the progress in various human rights areas within the EU, forced sterilization is still legally permissible or not expressly prohibited in 12 of the EU's 27 member states, which includes Portugal, Finland, and Croatia. This gap in legislation reveals a notable disparity in the protection of the rights of individuals with disabilities across the EU.



Campaigners seek E.U.-wide ban on forced sterilization

Christina Paredero was diagnosed with a form of autism at the age of 18, and says her parents pressured her into agreeing to get sterilized. The Spanish activist is among campaigners seeking an EU-wide ban on the forced sterilization of people with disabilities. Paredero says her parents intervened when she embarked on a serious relationship, and she eventually agreed to have the procedure. At that time, I believed everything my parents told me, that autism was a disability and that it was something that was going to disable me for life. It was something bad. It was something to hide. It was something that was going to make me dependent. Paredero is no longer in touch with her parents, and Reuters was unable to contact them for comment. She's now 31 and helped draft a 2020 law banning forced or coerced sterilization in Spain. She's also fighting to outlaw the practice across the European Union. Really, the fight and all the activism I have done against forced sterilizations for a European law to protect women is because this is gender violence. Gender violence cannot be condoned. I'm not thinking about whether or not I want to have biological children. I think that is secondary. I believe that all women have the right to decide for themselves. Forced sterilization is a surgical procedure that removes a person's capacity to have children without consent or under undue pressure. There is currently no EU-wide policy on the issue, and the practice remains legal or not explicitly banned in 12 of the EU's 27 member states, including Portugal, Croatia and Finland. Here's Marine Ildry from the European Disability Forum, or the EDF. It shows that our societies still have a very paternalistic view of persons with disabilities, that they believe that they can take decisions for persons with disabilities instead of respecting their rights. It also shows that there is a lack of understanding on what the reality is for persons with disabilities. The EDF says it's planning to take its fight to each of the 12 EU states that do not explicitly ban the procedure. It campaigned to get it included in a recent EU directive against violence against women. An official told Reuters the European Commission was also looking to include forced sterilization as a harmful practice in an upcoming recommendation to complement the directive. Although lawyers contracted by the EDF state the EU has signed the Istanbul Convention, which bans forced sterilization.

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