Czech Anna Adamova is still haunted more than three decades after she was forced into a sterilisation that she says irreparably damaged her life. A member of the central European country's often marginalised Roma minority, Adamova was about to give birth to her fourth child aged just 22 in when she says she was pressured into agreeing to be sterilised.
Adamova is one of thousands who have applied to the Czech government for compensation, although, she says, this cannot make up for the injustice she suffered. She says that a social worker had threatened to take away her as yet unborn fourth child if she did not agree to the sterilisation and that afterwards, her partner left her because "the Roma see an infertile woman as useless". She was part of a decades-long sterilisation programme targeting mostly Roma women, which the Czech government has since recognised was unlawful.
The Czech Republic is an exception in trying to offer redress for such so-called birth control measures implemented during the communist era. A deadline for applications expired on January 1, but parliament is expected to extend it this month. More than 2, people have applied for compensation, the Czech health ministry said. The government and activists do not know how many people were unlawfully sterilised under the programme, which began under Communism and targeted especially Roma women.
Communism was toppled in Czechoslovakia in , but the sterilisations continued until the s. The Roma community officially numbers some 22, people in the EU country of EU authorities regularly highlight discrimination against the minority, including in access to housing and education. Writing as last-minute requests began to pile up, O'Flaherty criticised "shortcomings in the procedure and practice", including an excessive burden of proof placed on the victims.
Gorolova -- who has received the compensation -- said the health ministry rejected some applicants whose medical records had been shredded after 40 years. Jakob said that the ministry had boosted staff, established a helpline and ran seminars for non-profit organisations dealing with the compensation requests.
