Legal Definitions - enforced sterilization

Enforced sterilization, also known as compulsory sterilization, is when a group of people is forcibly sterilized as part of a systematic attack against that group. Sterilization is a medical procedure that makes it impossible for a person to have children. When it is done without a person's consent, it is a violation of their human rights.

• In the 20th century, several countries, including the United States, Canada, and Sweden, had policies of enforced sterilization aimed at certain groups of people, such as those with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and people of color.
• During the Holocaust, the Nazi regime forcibly sterilized thousands of Jewish people and other groups they deemed "undesirable."

These examples illustrate how enforced sterilization has been used as a tool of oppression and genocide throughout history. It is a violation of human rights and a crime against humanity.