A court-mediated settlement was reached Wednesday between the state and a Tokyo plaintiff in a forced sterilization case ¡ª the first among dozens of lawsuits filed nationwide ¡ª following a top court ruling in July that the now-defunct eugenics protection law was unconstitutional.
Sumiko Nishi, a 77-year-old resident in the city of Hino in western Tokyo, filed the lawsuit in 2022 over a hysterectomy she was forced to undergo in 1960 at the age of 14 because she has cerebral palsy.
According to Nishi¡¯s lawyer, the state agreed to pay ?16.5 million ($108,000) ¡ª the same amount awarded to plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case. In addition, the government will send out a notice to local governments on Thursday saying the settlements won¡¯t be considered as income for those who are receiving welfare benefits.
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