According to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper of Stockholm, Sweden, as many as 60,000 Swedish people were forcibly sterilized this century because they had “undesirable” racial characteristics, physical impediments and/or psychological problems. In response to the newspaper articles, the opposition Christian Democratic Party demanded a parliamentary investigation of past sterilizations.
A spokesperson for Swedish Social Minister Margot Wallstroem reported that the government is considering the request for an investigation and may begin as early as Tuesday, August 26th. In a statement issued last week, Wallstroem promised to consider compensating victims, despite the fact that Swedish law prohibits compensation for crimes that were legal at the time they were committed. Forced sterilization was legal in Sweden until 1975. It is unclear when the last forced sterilizations took place.
