Bratislava, Slovakia
Doctors in Slovakia are forcibly sterilizing Romany women to reduce the population of the people once called Gypsies, an international advocacy group said. At least 110 Romany women have told investigators for the Center for Reproductive Rights that doctors in Slovakia tied their tubes during Caesarean sections and informed them later. The Roma, a dark-skinned ethnic minority, face discrimination across Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe, where their numbers are greater. During the Nazi and communist eras, governments often sterilized Romany women in an attempt to keep the population down. “But this is happening in Europe in 2003,” Christina Zampas of the Center for Reproductive Rights told the London Independent. “It’s appalling.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
