After

three years, the Hungarian government has finally decided to provide financial

compensation to a Romani woman who was coercively sterilized in 2001. The case

was referred to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against

Women, and in August 2006 it found the Hungarian government to be in violation

of the UN Convention that guarantees an end to discrimination against women.

In March 2008, the Hungarian

government declared the opposite. It would not provide any compensation to Ms.

A.S., a woman who was sterilized by Hungarian doctors without her consent. Now,

on February 24, 2009, after eight years of national and international legal

proceedings, there is hope that the victim, as recommended by CEDAW Committee,

"will be provided an appropriate compensation commensurate with the

gravity of the violations of her rights."

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Before

CEDAW, Ms A.S. was represented by the European

Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and the Legal

Defense Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities (NEKI). She claimed that on January 2, 2001, she was subjected

to coerced sterilization by medical staff at one of the Hungarian hospitals,

where she had been taken after labor pains.

While examining her, the attending physician

found that the fetus had died in her womb and told her a caesarean section

needed to be performed immediately in order to remove the dead fetus. While on

the operating table, Ms.

A.S. was asked to sign forms giving her consent to this operation as well as to

her sterilization. However, the doctors did not explain the procedure, its

nature, possible risks or the consequences of being sterilized. Only after the

operation did Ms. A.S. learn that she had been sterilized. On October 15, 2001,

Ms. A.S. and her attorney filed a civil claim for damages against the hospital.

On appeal, the court held that the hospital doctors had indeed acted

negligently. Nevertheless, the same court concluded that since Ms. A.S. had

provided no proof that she had suffered a lasting detriment, she was not

entitled to compensation.

On February 12, 2004, the ERRC and NEKI

jointly filed a complaint with CEDAW relating to the illegal sterilization

under the CEDAW

optional protocol. In support of the victim’s claims, a brief was

prepared by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The Center underlined that

consent and the right to information are critical components of any

sterilization procedure, and that human rights are violated when sterilization

is performed without the full and informed consent of the patient.

In

the case of Ms. A.S., by sterilizing a woman without her fully informed

consent, Hungary,

through the doctors at the public hospital, violated her right to decide on the

number and spacing of children. As a result of the non-consensual sterilization

that was performed, the woman no longer has, and will never have the freedom to

make decisions as to the number and spacing of children.

In August 2006, the Committee found

the Hungarian government to be in violation of the Convention. The Committee

recommended the government provide appropriate compensation to Ms. A.S.,

review domestic legislation on the principle of informed consent in cases of

sterilization and ensure its conformity with international human rights and

medical standards. And in connection with that, consider amending the

provision in the Public Health Act, which allows a physician "to deliver the

sterilization without the information procedure generally specified when it

seems to be appropriate in given circumstances," and monitor public and private health centers including

hospitals and clinics that perform sterilization procedures to ensure that

fully informed consent is given before any sterilization procedure is carried

out, with

appropriate sanctions in place in the event of a breach.



The

Committee also requested the Hungarian government to submit to the Committee,

within six months, a written response, including any information on any action

taken in the light of the views and recommendations of the Committee. But still,

a year later, in 2007, in its concluding

comments, the Committee expressed concern at the Hungarian government’s

failure to implement the recommendations and again urged the government to

"provide appropriate compensation to Ms. A.S."

Only in 2008, following the Committee

recommendations, the Hungarian Government amended the Public Health Act to

ensure that appropriate information be given to patients in the context of

sterilization procedures to ensure informed consent. And in February 2009, the

government declared its willingness to pay an adequate compensation to Ms. A.S.

The compensation means not only

justice to A.S., but the Hungarian Government’s recognition of its obligations

to all women under international law. It is an important step forward in

ensuring respect for the optional protocol of the CEDAW Convention. "We hope

that Hungary’s actions will serve as an example to other countries, like the

Czech Republic and Slovakia, where the problem of coercive sterilization still

has not been fully addressed," said Ostalinda Maya, ERRC’s Women’s

Rights Officer.