Irish symphysiotomy victims make a submission to the UN about cruel and barbaric childbirth operations

The Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) has made a submission to the United Nations claiming that the Irish State has violated the UN Convention against Torture for its failure to initiate an independent inquiry and restitution scheme for victims of symphysiotomy.

Symphysiotomy was a procedure carried out on women during childbirth from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s. The process involved breaking a woman’s pelvis during or after childbirth. The procedure was administered in order to enable future childbirth without any limitation.

The submission to the UN was made following the Irish Government’s suggestion that an ex-gratia redress scheme would be made available to victims. This scheme does not include an admission of guilt or liability on the part of the State.

The submission claims that symphysiotomy constituted torture because “severe pain and suffering, both physical and mental, were intentionally inflicted on women and girls, for reasons based on discrimination”.  But for the fact that they were pregnant, they would not have had these abusive surgeries perpetrated upon them.

Michael Lynn, barrister for SOS, said: "We believe the Government is in continuing violation of its obligations under international law. There has been no full, thorough and impartial investigation into what happened".

Marie O'Connor, Chairperson of SOS, said the submission represented “a searing indictment of the State’s involvement in the scandal”. “Survivors testify graphically to the extreme cruelty of these scheduled procedures, the excruciating pain of the surgery done wide awake, the agonising nature of these post-operative births and the often life-blighting consequences of the surgery,” she said.

Click here to read the full submission

Click here to read the full report in the Irish Times

Share

Resources

Sustaining Partners