'Ruined my life': Sterilized Czech Roma await compensation

by Jan FLEMR

Czech Anna Adamova is still haunted more than three decades after she was forced into a sterilization that she says irreparably damaged her life.

A member of the central European country's often marginalized Roma minority, Adamova was about to give birth to her fourth child aged just 22 in 1991 when she says she was pressured into agreeing to be sterilized.

Adamova is one of thousands who have applied to the Czech government for compensation, although, she says, this cannot make up for the injustice she suffered.

"They ruined my life," the now 55-year-old told AFP in a tiny flat in Ralsko, a former military area northeast of Prague.

She says that a social worker had threatened to take away her as yet unborn fourth child if she did not agree to the sterilisation and that afterwards, her partner left her because "the Roma see an infertile woman as useless".

She was part of a decades-long sterilization program targeting mostly Roma women, which the Czech government has since recognised was unlawful.

The Czech Republic is an exception in trying to offer redress for such so-called birth control measures implemented during the communist era.

A law passed in 2021 and covering the period between 1966 and 2012 grants compensation worth 300,000 Czech koruna ($14,000) to each person who was unlawfully sterilized.

A deadline for applications expired on January 1, but parliament is expected to extend it this month.

More than 2,300 people have applied for compensation, the Czech health ministry said.

"We have settled 1,581 requests, including 581 rejections," spokesman Ondrej Jakob told AFP.

- 'Ignored testimonies' -

The government and activists do not know how many people were unlawfully sterilized under the program, which began under Communism and targeted especially Roma women.

Communism was toppled in Czechoslovakia in 1989, but the sterilizations continued until the 2000s.

"They wanted to reduce the number of Roma children," said Elena Gorolova, who was 21 when sterilized in 1990 and has since become a spokeswoman for those affected.

The Roma community officially numbers some 22,000 people in the EU country of 10.9 million, but unofficial estimates put their number at some 250,000.

EU authorities regularly highlight discrimination against the minority, including in access to housing and education.

In a letter to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala last year, the Council of Europe's rights commissioner Michael O'Flaherty urged an extension of the deadline for compensation requests.

Writing as last-minute requests began to pile up, O'Flaherty criticized "shortcomings in the procedure and practice", including an excessive burden of proof placed on the victims.

Gorolova -- who has received the compensation -- said the health ministry rejected some applicants whose medical records had been shredded after 40 years.

Jakob said that the ministry had boosted staff, established a helpline and ran seminars for non-profit organizations dealing with the compensation requests.

But Gorolova said she was skeptical.

"They ignore the testimonies of the women. Besides, they take years dealing with it," she said.

Adamova, who is currently unemployed, is still waiting for her money, which she hopes to pass on to her children and grandchildren.

She applied in September 2024 after finding the information about the compensation on Facebook by accident.

- 'Terribly scared' -

Adamova is still scarred by the sterilization experience, not least the threat of having her child taken away.

"I was terribly scared so I said yes... I didn't know what the word meant," said Adamova, who at the time was living in a single room with her partner and other three children, without water or heating.

After doctors had removed her womb, Adamova's partner left her, and it has been difficult for her to keep relationships since then due to the prejudices within her community, she said.

Gorolova also recalled how a nurse had asked her to give consent saying: "Sign this or you will die."

"So I took the paper and signed. I had no idea what was written there," the 56-year-old told AFP.

After she gave birth to her second son, the doctors performing the Caesarean section also took away her womb.

"I couldn't have other children and I wanted a girl so much. I will live with this until I die," she said.

© Agence France-Presse