Forced sterilisation of women
The International Community of Women Living with HIV and Aids (ICW) held a workshop in January 2008 for 30 young women living with HIV (WLHIV) in Namibia. Many of the women reported that they had been forced or coerced into being sterilised.
They said this not only denied them the right to decide when and if to have children, but also subjected them to a stigma that was even more pernicious in their communities than that engendered by HIV: the stigma attached to a woman unable to bear children.
The United Nations (UN) considers forced sterilisation and abortion to be cruel and inhumane, and the practice is illegal in most of the nations where it has been documented. Forced sterilisation cases have been documented in over 30 countries including Malawi, Zambia, India, Uganda, Mexico, and China.
WLHIV often do not report violations to authorities or seek legal redress due to fear of stigma and discrimination, lack of information about their rights and reproductive options, feelings of disempowerment within the healthcare system and lack of funds for legal representation.
Voluntary and freely chosen sterilisation is an appropriate form of family planning for those women and men who do not wish to become pregnant or to have children. Sterilisation that takes place involuntarily, meaning without the full, free and informed consent of the woman herself is a violation of her human rights.
Additionally coerced sterilisation, for example sterilization that has been compelled in exchange for incentives such as loans or cash payments; or access to nutrition or other services or supports or is a result of persuasion via unequal power dynamics, misinformation, exaggeration of the risks, abuse or discrimination also constitutes a serious violation of fundamental human rights.
The consequences of undergoing forced or coercive sterilisation can be devastating for women living with HIV, undermining their self worth and sense of identity as women and mothers and limiting their marriage prospects and increasing their vulnerability to intimate partner violence.
Women who cannot have children in some societies are marginalised and experienced diminished social status, which can have a negative impact on women’s mental health and well-being.
Women living with HIV have the right to full and informed consent to any medical procedures and testing and to make autonomous decisions about their reproductive choices.—additional information taken from www.iamicw.org
