Sterilise parents who abuse children, top professor says

Social workers should be able to recommend irreversible sterilisation for parents who abuse their children, according to a top academic.

Professor David Marsland, emeritus scholar of sociology and health sciences at Brunel University and professorial research fellow in sociology at the University of Buckingham, claims sterilisation is the only way to prevent abusers from continuing to harm their children.

Marsland will defend his controversial views during a live debate on BBC Radio 4’s Iconoclasts tomorrow at 8pm.

He will argue that family courts should be able to reinforce recommendations from social workers and police that parents who are drug users, alcoholics or mentally disabled be irreversibly sterilised.

Three expert witnesses, including a senior social worker, a drugs charity lawyer and a moral philosopher, will appear on the programme to challenge his views.

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