Mentally Disabled Residents Get Sterilized in Hokkaido

Sapporo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)--A facility for people with intellectual disabilities in Hokkaido, northern Japan, has gotten residents sterilized if they hope to live with or get married to other residents, officials at its operator said Monday.

Local officials started a hearing with facility staff Monday to determine whether residents had given their consent to such treatment.

Facility staff have told residents that they could not offer child-rearing services, according to the operator in the town of Esashi, Asunaro Social Welfare Service Corp.

Staff have given sterilization treatment to 16 people from eight couples after winning the consent of them and their families since 1998, according to the operator.

Masaharu Umemura, a senior official at Asunaro, said that the facility does not force sterilization on residents, so the treatment was based on consent from them and their families.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]