Japan court awards damages up to £175,600 to those forcibly sterilised to prevent birth of ‘inferior children’

Court calls defunct law under which sterilisations were carried out ‘inhumane and discriminatory’

A court in Japan has offered damages to victims of forced sterilisation under a now defunct law (Getty/iStock)

A court in Japan has ordered the government to pay compensation to three people with disabilities for being forcibly sterilised under the country’s now defunct eugenics protection law.

The Osaka High Court recognised the law as unconstitutional and directed Japan’s federal government to pay a total of ¥27.5m (£175,600) in damages to two women and a man on Tuesday, reported The Japan Times.

The three people include a hearing-impaired couple and a woman who has intellectual disabilities. All three are in their seventies and eighties. The two women underwent sterilisation in 1965 and 1974. The identities of the three were not made public by local media.

One of the women was quoted by public broadcaster NHK as having said after the verdict: “I am happy our claim was accepted. But the sorrow of having to go through the operation is still with me even now.”

Under the law, around 16,500 people, mostly women with disabilities, were operated on without their consent between 1948 and 1996. Around 8,000 people purportedly gave their consent, allegedly under pressure. And around 60,000 women had abortions because of hereditary illnesses, reports said.

The law, which was abolished in 1996, aimed to “prevent the birth of poor-quality descendants ... and to protect the life and health of the mother”, reported The Guardian.

After years of delay, Japan’s parliament enacted a law in April 2019 to pay ¥3.2m (£20,820) in state compensation to all those who had undergone forced sterilisation. However, critics said the amount was too little to compensate for the trauma the surgeries had caused to the women and their spouses.

Critics also opposed the government for not mentioning its own responsibility in implementing the law. On Tuesday, the court called the law “inhumane and discriminatory” and accused lawmakers of “negligence”.

While other courts in the country had also earlier declared the law unconstitutional, they had rejected damages claims on the grounds that the 20-year statute of limitations had expired.

Saburo Kita, who represents a group of victims and their families, hailed the court’s decision on Tuesday. “Our lives were completely destroyed. This is not about money. With this verdict, I want the government to bow in front of all the victims and apologise,” she said.

While plaintiffs across Japan were happy with the court’s decision, the government said the order was too harsh. Welfare minister Shigeyuki Goto called the ruling “very severe” for the state.

Chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government would examine the decision and then consider appealing to the country’s Supreme Court.