Woman who was forcibly sterilised aged 15 sues Japanese government

A woman who was forcibly sterilised when she was just 15 is suing the Japanese government in a landmark case.

The woman, who was sterilised because of a mental disability, is one of thousands of potential claimants.

Now in her 60s, she is suing for 11 million yen (£71,000), The Times reported.

She claims her human rights were violated when her fallopian tubes were tied in 1972 in one of tens of thousands of operations conducted under eugenic protection laws in Japan which were repealed in 1996.

Some 25,000 people were sterilised "in the public interest to prevent hereditary transmission of disease".

An estimated 16,500 operations were performed without patients' consent, including on children who were as young as nine.