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Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, refers to any government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually done by surgical or chemical means.
Purported justifications for compulsory sterilization have included population control, eugenics, limiting the spread of HIV, and ethnic genocide.
Several countries implemented sterilization programs in the early 20th century.[1] Although such programs have been made illegal in much of the world, instances of forced or coerced sterilizations still persist.