In 2004, a Hungarian woman brought forward a complaint that she had been sterilized without her permission by medical staff at a Hungarian hospital. She had gone in to give birth, but the child was already dead and Caesarian was performed. Before the procedure was to take place she was given a consent form, which featured a small written note mentioning the sterilization - the word sterilization was in Latin.
The woman only found out she was sterilized after the procedure when she asked a doctor how long she would have to wait to have another child.
CEDAW (the Committee) decided that Hungary had failed to comply with Articles 12 (requires appropriate services in connection to pregnancy), 10 (rights to information on family planning), and 16 (being able to decide on number of children to have and when). To remedy the situation, the Committee recommended that the woman be compensated, and that Hungary review its laws dealing with consent and sterilization.
In 2008 the Hungarian government amended existing laws so that the processes of providing information and the obtaining consent were improved. In 2009 the sterilized woman was financially compensated.
The full text of the case can be found here.
Post by Erin
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