Namibia forcibly sterilised women with HIV: Court
JOHANNESBURG — Human rights groups say Namibia’s highest court has upheld a ruling that health workers sterilised HIV-positive women without their consent.
A HIV-positive person holds a placard during a programme organised to mark World AIDS Day on December 1, 2010. Photo: Reuters file photo
JOHANNESBURG — Human rights groups say Namibia’s highest court has upheld a ruling that health workers sterilised HIV-positive women without their consent.
The Southern Africa Litigation Center said today (Nov 3) that Namibia’s supreme court upheld a 2012 judgment that found health workers had coerced three HIV-positive mothers to sign sterilisation consent forms they did not fully understand. The group says the women were made to sign the forms while in labour in public hospitals.
The centre said the ruling sends a message to government to stop the practice in the southwestern African nation. Allegations of forced sterilisation of HIV positive women have been documented since 2007.
About 250,000 Namibians, more than 10 percent of the population, are living with HIV according to UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS. AP
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