Sterilization Crime And Punishment
The crime of sterilization is regulated under Article 101 of the TPC. The act of sterilization can be performed on men as well as women. If this procedure is carried out against the consent of the person, it is considered a crime. In addition, in order for sterilization to be considered a crime, sterilization must be performed by someone who is not authorized. For example, if the request for sterilization is made by a person other than a medical specialist and the person performs this procedure, the crime of sterilization will be committed even if there is consent. The law states that anyone, medical personnel or not, can commit the crime of sterilization. In order for medical personnel to commit this crime, they must perform sterilization against consent, whereas if non-official persons perform sterilization whether they are authorized or not, they commit the crime of sterilization and are punished according to Article 101 of the TPC.
It should be noted that castration is also considered within the scope of Article 101 of the TPC. Apart from this, if sterilization is performed with medication or other medical methods, it also falls under Article 101 of the TPC. Sterilization without the person’s will or sterilization outside of the medical personnel, even if the person has a will, causes the formation of a crime within the framework of TPC 101.
On the other hand, sterilization can be performed by doctors in medically necessary cases, even if the person does not have a will. This is accepted as a reason of lawfulness for the aforementioned crime. If non-medical personnel perform sterilization without an obvious interest as a reason for compliance with the law, they will still have to be punished in accordance with TPC 101.
If the crime of sterilization is committed by persons who are not authorized to perform the act of sterilization, the penalty to be imposed is increased by 1/3.
If the act of sterilization causes death or bodily harm to a person, the perpetrator will be held responsible within the framework of the provisions on aggravated crimes due to the consequences. Therefore, Article 87 of the Turkish Penal Code is applied.