Informing forced sterilization victims of new law remains challenge

After the Diet passed a bill into law on Tuesday to compensate victims of forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenic protection law, informing victims about the new law so they can apply for compensation, including ¥15 million for each victim, remains a challenge.
A similar law enacted in 2019 called for a lump sum payment of ¥3.2 million for each victim. But the number of applications had totaled only 1,129 as of the end of August, while about 25,000 sterilizations are believed to have been carried out under the eugenic protection law.
This was apparently because the 2019 law lacked a provision to notify individual victims of the lump sum payment, due to privacy concerns. Some victims said that they did not want to remember the sterilizations, and others said that they had not told their families about their past.
Meanwhile, the new law leaves individual notification to prefectural governments, which are expected to work to allow as many victims as possible to apply for compensation during a five-year application period that begins on the day the law takes effect.
The new law also covers those forced to have abortions under the eugenic protection law. But it is believed to be difficult to recognize forced abortion victims due to a lack of public records and surgical scars. In light of this, bar associations across the country plan to establish a system to help victims prepare application documents.
“The central government should ideally set up a one-stop application window and have lawyers provide support to reassure those applying for compensation,” said Ritsumeikan University Prof. Yoko Matsubara, a bioethics expert.
Matsubara also said that the central government should set standards and guidelines on individual notification, without leaving the matter to prefectural governments.