Robbed of Reproductive Justice: The Necessity of a Global Initiative to Provide Redress to Roma Women Coercively Sterilized in Eastern Europe

Although the Czechoslovakian practice of sterilizing undesirables was officially abandoned in 1990, many Romai women claim they have continued to be coercively sterilized since the fall of communism in 1989. Victims have obtained little justice from the government. The article argues that the lack of justice for these victims is due to barriers in the Czech and Slovak legal systems regarding laws designed to protect against coercive sterilization. The article discusses how the most successful efforts to obtain justice for the coercively sterilized women have been through the work of international, regional and non-governmental organizations. The author concludes that the most effective means of obtaining individual compensation is by having NGOs file complaints, on behalf of victims, to the CEDAW Committee or the European Court of Human Rights. Additionally, the author encourages organizations to pressure the Czech and Slovak governments to establish a mass compensation fund.

Elizabeth K Tomasovic, Robbed of Reproductive Justice: The Necessity of a Global Initiative to Provide Redress to Roma Women Coercively Sterilized in Eastern Europe (2010) 41:3 Colum HRL Rev 765.