Japan’s government should stop forcing transgender people to be surgically sterilised if they want legal recognition of their gender identity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Requiring a medical intervention as a condition of having their gender identity legally recognised violates Japan’s human rights obligations and runs counter to international medical standards. The 84-page report, «A Really High Hurdle’: Japan’s Abusive Transgender Legal Recognition Process», documents how Japan’s Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases (GID) Act harms transgender people who want to be legally recognised but cannot or do not want to undergo irreversible medical procedures like sterilisation.