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Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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Nature of the Case

Communication that Ms. A.S.’s rights were violated when a doctor in a public hospital performed a forced sterilization procedure without providing adequate information regarding the sterilization procedure to obtain Ms. A.S.’s free and informed consent; Requirements of free and informed consent; Right to decide the number and spacing of children; Right to access sexual and reproductive health education and family planning information; Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies; Equality and Non-discrimination.

Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes

The Committee recommended that Hungary compensate Ms. A.S. and take measures to make sure health officials give information to patients and obtain informed consent. In 2008, Hungary amended the Public Health Act to ensure that women received proper information regarding sterilization procedures.  Finally, in February 2009 the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour announced that they will compensate Ms. A.S. according to the Committee’s recommendations.

Significance of the Case

This is a landmark decision, in which for the first time an international body held a state responsible for failing to provide a woman with necessary information and obtain full consent for reproductive health procedures. This decision establishes that obligations to ensure women’s human rights require that they must be provided with acceptable reproductive health services, specifically requiring free and informed consent to a sterilization procedure.  This decision was an important step in addressing the systemic discrimination against Romani women in Central and Eastern Europe, however, governments in the region remain highly reluctant to acknowledge marginalization and discrimination of Romani peoples.

Groups Involved in the Case

European Roma Rights Centre Legal Defense Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities Center for Reproductive Rights