Czech Health Ministry has received 2,226 requests for compensation for illegal sterilizations, but expects more, the deadline may be prolonged

It has been possible to request compensation since 2022, and ahead of the expiration date set for 2 January 2025, a large number of new requests were filed, according to Jakob. The Council of Europe, domestic nonprofit organizations, and the ombudsman have called for the deadline to be extended.

Two bills in the Chamber of Deputies would extend the deadline if adopted. “The Health Ministry is waiting to see what the state of negotiations is for the proposed amendment to extend the compensation deadline by two years. If that happens, the Health Ministry will continue to deal with requests sent after tomorrow and will open administrative proceedings for them,” Jakob said.

Prolongation of the deadline has been proposed by lawmakers from the governing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and by opposition legislator Helena Válkova (Association of Dissatisfied Citizens – ANO), who is the original author of the law making the compensation possible. The bill by Pavel Blažek (who is currently Justice Minister) and Eva Decroix of the ODS should be attached to an amendment to the Labor Code that is already being discussed by the Chamber of Deputies and is expected to be adopted in February.

Válková wants her bill to be adopted by the Chamber of Deputies in a first reading. When the law was adopted, experts estimated roughly 400 women would apply for compensation.

So far, 2,266 requests have been registered by the ministry, with almost 300 added since October 2024 alone. The ministry has processed 1,552 of them – 720 requests were awarded compensation, 576 requests were rejected, and 256 proceedings have been suspended.

A total of 714 requests have yet to be processed. “We would like to point out that the final number of requests can still change. The ministry has really received a large amount of new requests as the deadline for expiration approached,” Jakob said.

The systematic sterilization of women, which has sometimes been performed during Caesarean delivery, was first regulated in Czechoslovakia by a directive from the ministry in 1971. In 1979 the state also made it possible to financially motivate women to undergo sterilization.

Women have reported that the practice of sterilizing them without their free and informed consent has continued into the 21st century in the Czech Republic. Suspicions of forced sterilization were raised in 2004 by the European Roma Rights Centre.

Illegal sterilizations have been performed in Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for decades, most often on Romani women. They were threatened with their children being taken into state care if they did not comply with the recommendation to be sterilized, subjected to other kinds of pressure, or misinformed about the nature of the surgery.

Dozens of women have been turning to the ombudsman to complain of these illegal sterilizations and some also sued in court. According to the compensation law of 2022, those who were illegally sterilized between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 without freely deciding to undergo the surgery and without being informed as to its repercussions are entitled to a one-time payment of CZK 300,000 [EUR 12,000].

The Health Ministry has already paid at least CZK 216 million [EUR 8.6 million] to forced sterilization victims as of 3 January 2025.