The Swedish Chamber of Commerce states that the requirement for sterilization for legal gender change is contrary to human rights and Swedish government cooperation. When will Norway follow suit?
(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
This is a contribution to the «Engaged utterance» column in the weekly magazine Ny Tid, in print 18.01.2013. In the column come various idealistic organizations are speaking. The participants are: ATTAC Norway, Nature and Youth, Agenda X, Skeiv Ungdom, Changemaker, One World, The Future in Our Hands, Bellona, the Joint Council for Africa, the Norwegian Society for Nature Conservation, MSF and NOAH – for animal rights.
Join the debate on the weekly magazine's Ny Tid debate pages – send your reaction to this text to debatt@nytid.no. Preferably before 1 p.m. 14 Tuesdays to get printed in the same week's edition, Friday.
Dilemma. In 2013, Norwegian history of forced sterilization is still not over. You wouldn't believe it was true. Still, it is a fact that sterilization, that is, removal of the testicles or uterus and ovaries, is one of the conditions for changing legal gender status in Norway.
If you have an appearance that makes people perceive you as a man, but identification papers that define you as a woman, you will be able to run into problems every time you apply for a new job, pick up a package in the post, go to the bank, enter a night club , not to mention traveling.
By having identification papers that do not match how you define and express yourself, you will have to hand yourself over, i.e. disclose your background, in all contexts where identification is required. In this way, trans people are extra exposed to hate violence and discrimination.
Serious abuse
Not being able to choose in which contexts one wants and does not want to be open about one's trans status is a serious assault on those concerned. The degree to which one wants to be open is a private matter, and usually not something one wants to share with random doormen, postal clerks or bank employees.
In addition, there is good reason to believe that there are many countries in the world that it would be impossible to travel to if you have a discrepancy between gender expression and legal gender status.
The sterilization requirement is a disproportionate intervention in private and family life, and thus violates the right to personal autonomy and physical integrity, as well as the right to define one's own gender identity. The latter has been defined by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to be "one of the most fundamental principles of the right to self-determination".
The procedure has no medical justification, is permanent and irreversible. At the same time, it entails major physical and psychological consequences for the person concerned.
Seeking compensation
The practice of sterilization has been strongly criticized by, among others, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights and the organization Human Rights Watch. In Norway, LLH and Skeiv Ungdom collaborate with Amnesty to remove the sterilization requirement.
Several of the political youth parties have now also agreed to change practice in Norway.
These days, Skeiv Ungdom's sister organization, along with several others, is suing the Swedish state for compensation for the sterilized people, a claim that amounts to just over NOK 15 million. The demand comes as a result of the judgment in the Kammarrätten, which is the administrative court's highest court.
Here in Norway, we are waiting for the living conditions survey "Alskens folk: about living conditions, life situation and quality of life for people with gender identity issues," which will be published on 24 January.
In October 2012, we received a report from the Directorate of Health on the treatment offer for transgender people in Norway. As a result of this, among other things, the sterilization requirement must be assessed.
The answer from the Norwegian health authorities about the way forward is long overdue. They know what we mean. They are familiar with the case law of the Human Rights Court. How many more people must be forced to undergo sterilization before we can put an end to the history of sterilization in Norway? ■
(This is an excerpt from Ny Tid's weekly magazine 18.01.2013. Read the whole thing by buying Ny Tid in newspaper retailers all over the country, or by subscribing to Ny Tid -click here. Subscribers receive previous editions free of charge as PDF.)
