In Namibia, Being an HIV-Positive Woman Could Get You Sterilized

If you're an HIV-positive woman in Namibia, just walking into a hospital could get you sterilized. Such is the story of hundreds of women in Namibia, who for the past decade (at least) have become victim to an illegal and ill-informed practice by governmental health authorities.

The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS has been covering this issue for the past several years, ever since a workshop in Namibia showed that scores of women were sterilized without their consent or under pressure from doctors. Their documentation is on one level alarming, and on another level heart-breaking. Stories like that of a 31-year-old pregnant woman from the Goreangab dam area of Namibia. She went in to deliver her baby, but was told by doctors that because the baby was "too large," she would have to be sterilized. Doctors said that if she refused to agree to the sterilization procedure, she would have to give birth without medical care.

Or stories like that of "Susan," who at 20-years-old walked into a doctor's office for emergency surgery, unaware that she was pregnant. When she woke up from her surgery, "Susan" was told by doctors that her womb had to be ripped out "because [she] had HIV." Susan now has no children; and she never will.

The campaign waged by health officials in Namibia amounts to nothing short of forced sterilization, according to the Namibia Women's Health Network. They, along with the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, have mounted a campaign pressuring Namibia's Ministry of Health to stop the widespread use of sterilization on pregnant HIV-positive women. The practice, according to these two groups, is a violation of the reproductive rights of women living with HIV, furthers discrimination against people living with HIV, and is an unnecessary and dangerous procedure that violates human rights guaranteed under the Namibian Constitution, not to mention Namibia's obligations under international law, since the country is a party to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

You can join their campaign against the forced sterilization of women living with HIV in Namibia, by signing this Change.org petition. As these groups note, the government of Namibia has been getting away with sterilizing women through pressure and/or without their consent for nearly a decade. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this practice any longer.

As a response to this phenomenon, a number of legal groups are bringing suit against the Namibian government to stop the practice of forced sterilization on HIV-positive women. Next week (June 1-4), three women who were allegedly sterilized without their consent will have their cases heard in the High Court of Namibia. These women are seeking financial compensation for their alleged violations of human rights.

And these three women are just the tip of the iceberg. At least 15 cases are expected to eventually be heard on their merits. The women at the heart of these cases will see some pretty awesome solidarity, too. According to endforcedsterilisation.wordpress.com, "a coalition of civil society organizations from across southern Africa are planning to lead several events to coincide with the dates of the court case." Expect to see hospital sit-ins. Expect to see marches of support. Expect to see demonstrations outside of Namibian embassies.

And expect to see the signatures from this petition and others like it turned over, expressing international outrage at the fact that Namibia is authorizing forced sterilization of women living with HIV.

As Priti Patel and Brett Davidson wrote for the Huffington Post last year, "In some cases, medical personnel obtained the women's consent under duress: these women were asked to sign consent forms while they were in labor or on their way to the operating room." In other cases, these two authors write, women were tricked into getting sterilized by including sterilization consent forms in large stacks of papers for the patients to sign, with no explanation given about the forms these women were signing. In several cases, some women didn't even realize they were sterilized until several months later.

The International Coalition of Women Living with HIV/AIDS has already documented dozens of women who've been forcibly sterilized. How many more dozens will go through this treacherous process before Namibia, and Namibian health officials, are held accountable?

Send a message to the Namibian Health Ministry today. Women who have been coercively sterilized have suffered violations of their right to dignity, their right to be free from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, their right to start a family, and their right to be free from discrimination. Let's work together to end this practice today, before it claims even more victims.

Photo credit: http://endforcedsterilisation.wordpress.com/