Japan Supreme Court quashes law mandating sterilisation surgery for gender change
Women hold hands during the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade
Japan's Supreme Court on Wednesday (Oct 25) in a landmark decision quashed a law that mandated sterilisationsurgery to officially allow a gender change for a person on a family registry, media reports said.
Deeming the law "unconstitutional" the court's 15-judge bench gave the ruling in contrast to an earlier ruling in 2019 which had said that these requirements are "currently constitutional."
The case was brought on by an unidentified transgender woman below the age of 50 whose lawyers said that the mandates are in breach of their client’s constitutional right to lead a life without discrimination.
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The lawyers also cited other reasons like physical pain and financial burden that transgenders go through to fulfill the requirements posed by the law.
Kanae Doi, Japan Director at Human Rights Watch before the Wednesday (Oct 25) ruling reportedly said, “For anyone, having their gender legally recognised is an extremely fundamental human right, so being required to undergo sterilisation to enjoy that right is a significant violation of human rights."
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Does the ruling undermine women's rights?
There is another set of arguments by lawmakers and women's rights groups who were against any changes in the law. According to them, the ruling would lead to confusion and will undermine women’s rights.
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This latest ruling by Japan's apex court comes after a landmark case of a man who sought to have his gender legally changed without surgery. A local family court last week ruled in man's favour paving a path for Wednesday's (Oct 25) decision.
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According to the law requirements, people in Japan who want to change their gender were required to show a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, along with fulfilling five other requirements. The “Gender Identity Disorder (GID) Special Cases Act” said that the applicants for gender change must undergo a psychiatric evaluation, be surgically sterilised, should be single and without children below the age of 20.
(With inputs from agencies)
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