Forced sterilisation of women and girls with disabilities in Spain
7.2.2018
Question for written answer E-000791-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea (ALDE)
The Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (CERMI) has reported the forced sterilisation of 140 people with disabilities in Spain in 2016. According to data from the General Council of the Judiciary, a thousand people with disabilities have been sterilised over the past decade.
The European Disability Forum has found that women and girls with disabilities are three times more likely to be subjected to this practice than their able-bodied counterparts. At its last meeting, the Forum adopted a statement that called for an end to forced sterilisation, concurring with a recommendation made by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In light of these facts and bearing in mind that all EU Member States have signed the Istanbul Convention which makes it an obligation to criminalise forced sterilisation, and that the EU itself is in the process of acceding to this Convention:
- 1.Is the Commission aware of the forced sterilisations occurring in Spain?
- 2.How will it ensure that Member States apply the Istanbul Convention by criminalising the forced sterilisation of women and girls?
- 3.Is it aiming to put an end to forced sterilisation in the EU within the framework of the new European Disability Strategy which will enter into force in 2020?