Dutch Government Apologises for Forced Sterilisation

As in many other European countries, the 1985 Dutch Transgender Act required bodily modifications and sterilisation before applying for legal gender recognition (LGR). These requirements were abolished in 2014.

On 30 November 2020, Dutch Ministers Dekker (Legal Protection) and Van Engelshoven (Emancipation) publicly apologised to the trans community for this mistreatment and announced there would be a financial compensation scheme. Trans people affected by this law between 1985 and 2014 will be eligible for a financial compensation of up to 5,000€.

TGEU welcomes the actions of the Dutch government in taking responsibility for the harm and finding such clear words of apology. TGEU would like to thank Willemijn da Campo for paving the way and to congratulate all Dutch trans activists and organisations who engaged in the process and worked towards making this happen.