Trans people are forced to undergo sterilisation in the Czech Republic in order to have their gender legally recognised. (Getty/Canva)
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the Czech Republic violated the rights of trans people by forcing them to be sterilised.
Requiring transgender men and women to undergo sterilisation procedures in order to gain legal recognition of their gender identity meant the central-European country had breached international law, the court decided on Thursday (12 June).
The verdict in TH vs The Czech Republic highlighted that Petra Fiala’s Spolu (Together) coalition government had violated the rights of non-binary citizen, known only as Taylor H, by refusing to legally recognise her gender identity on the grounds that she hadn’t been sterilised.
The court ruled that Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights “holds true for all individuals, including transgender people who have not undergone gender reassignment treatment or who do not wish to”.
Officials had an obligation to “provide quick, transparent and accessible” systems for changing gender markers on legal documents, the court decreed.
In a statement given to PinkNews, Taylor H called the verdict a “crucial step” towards dismantling forced sterilisation laws in the Czech Republic.
“In the future, I believe it is up to the European human rights authorities to ensure that the rights of non-binary and trans people are permanently protected at the European level,” she added.
The case was brought after a Czech Constitutional Court ruling last year gave the government one year to remove forced sterilisation requirement from the statute books. Proposed reforms to gender recognition laws collapsed after MPs failed to bring forward a bill, and the government has refused to schedule a vote for the reforms.
ILGA-Europe senior strategic litigation officer Marie-Hélène Ludwig said the ECHR ruling was a reminder to the Czech government of its “obligation to put an end to this ongoing human rights violation.”
And Viktor Heumann, the chairman of Trans*parent, a Czech not-for-profit organisation, called on officials to work towards ending the “outdated and inhumane” law.
“The Czech Republic has been one of the last countries in Europe clinging to this harmful practice,” he said. “Countries like the Netherlands have even offered compensation for such past violations. It is essential that political leaders listen to lived experience rather than outdated stereotypes or media distortions.”
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