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Forced Sterilisation Victims Seek Redress
February 17, 2009
Wezi Tjaronda
New EraWINDHOEK – Two of the 10 potential forced sterilisation cases of HIV-positive women are headed for the courts in June this year. The Legal Assistance Centre has issued seven summonses in the 10 cases.
AIDS Law Unit Project Lawyer at the LAC Linda Dumba Chikalu told New Era on Friday that dates for the trial had already been secured.
The 10 cases were identified from 15 original cases, of which two were prescribed and three others were not real cases. All the women are Namibian, with most of the cases having happened at Katutura State, Windhoek Central and Oshakati hospitals, while one is from the south. Some of the cases date back to May 2005.
Chikalu said the LAC wants the women to undergo medical examinations to confirm that they were indeed sterilised and also to find out if the procedures were permanent or temporary. The LAC has already approached a medical doctor for a quotation to enable the organisation source funding for the medical costs since the LAC is a donor-funded organisation. The medical doctor will also engage the services of a specialist.
Some of the women now suffer from migraine headaches and have irregular menstrual periods, which the LAC wants to verify if the symptoms are side effects of sterilisaiton.
“Since we are not medical professionals, we need a doctor to say yes, these are side effects,” she said.
The women were identified after the International Community of Women living with HIV and AIDS (ICW) Namibia conducted a workshop for young positive women in Windhoek early last year.
Some of the women claimed they had been sterilised without their consent, while others said they were coerced into being sterilised. Those that did not consent said they only knew about the procedure after returning to the hospitals to access other services such as family planning.
The AIDS Law Unit has said forced sterilisation is not only a violation of their constitutional rights but also a breach of the public service charter, as it violates women’s rights as State subjects and as people that have reproductive rights.
After all, HIV should not be a condition for sterilisation.
Some of the affected women New Era spoke to last year said this did not bother them that time because they did not know their rights but they became worried because of today’s technological advances and programmes that can enable HIV-positive women to have HIV-negative babies.
Sterilisation is supposed to be a permanent family planning method although there is a small “failure rate”, which may result in ectopic pregnancies. Estimates are that one in 200 women that have been sterilised can still fall pregnant within 10 years.
The procedure is usually offered to women who have had Caesarian section three times because they are at a higher risk of rupturing their uterus at their next pregnancy. It is also offered to women who do not want to use family planning for the rest of their lives, who have completed their family, and/or have conditions that would make future pregnancies very risky.
Sterilisation is also offered to HIV-positive women. Although HIV usually does not interfere with the pregnancy, a specialist gynaecologist quoted in Gender Watch said it is offered because an HIV-positive person eventually gets sick.
The specialist said when the sterilisation option is offered, the woman must consent voluntarily, which means that it should not only be discussed with the woman but the woman must understand the risks and the benefits in order to be able to make an informed consent.
Due to its permanent nature, some women may regret having the operation in future, particularly if their circumstances change. For instance, young women with a few children are more likely to regret later while sometimes women may lose the children that they had or may be married again to another man, who still wants to have children.
Women that have been sterilised can have the procedure reversed although it can be costly, as it is usually not covered by medical aid.
Reversal sterilisaiton can cost anything between N$15 000 and N$20 000, most of which are hospital fees and have a 20 to 30 percent success rate.
The Abortion and Sterilisation Act of South Africa (1975), which Namibia inherited at independence in March 1990, regulates sterilisation for persons unable to comprehend the consequences of intercourse.
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