Politics and Society
Namibia government to pay for “forced sterilisation” of HIV+ women
Namibia’s Supreme Court says HIV-positive women have been forcibly sterilised after giving birth, in a ruling being hailed by rights activists as a victory for women throughout Africa
Published
10 years agoon

Namibia’s highest court on Monday dismissed a government appeal against a decision holding it liable for sterilising three HIV-positive women in state hospitals without obtaining their informed consent.
Chief Justice Peter Shivute and judges Sylvester Mainga and Gerhard Maritz found that the women, who have not been identified due to their HIV status, should not have been sterilised because of the circumstances under which their consent was obtained, the Namibian Sun reported.
The women had each claimed N$1 million for the sterilisation and an additional for being sterilised because of their health status.
The judgement also found that the women should have been given an opportunity to return to hospital at a later stage to undergo a bilateral tubal litigation (BTL), after having an opportunity to make informed decisions in a sound state of mind, and not under duress stemming from circumstances such as the labour pains they experienced at the time they signed the consent forms.
The Supreme Court found that none of the women gave “informed consent”, because they were in varying degrees of labour pain and may not have fully and rationally comprehended the consequences of giving consent for the sterilisation procedure.
Namibian Women’s Health Network director Jennifer Gatsi Mallet applauded the decision, saying the cases were only the tip of the iceberg.
“We have documented dozens of cases of other HIV-positive women who have been forcibly sterilised. The government needs to take active steps to ensure all women subjected to this unlawful practice get redress,” she said.
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