Speaking at the event held at 54 on Bath, Rosebank, Dr Ann Strode from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, explained that the Global Commission on HIV and the Law in 2012 found that this was a key human rights issue that required urgent attention.
Strode explained that coerced sterilisation referred to a situation where incentives, misinformation or intimidation tactics were used to compel an HIV-positive woman to consent to sterilisation.
“The practice targets women’s fears,” Strode explained.
*Thandi Khumalo was one such women that Khumalo explained to have been forced to sign a form agreeing to be sterilised while she was in labour. “I was in a lot of pain and simply signed the form as I wanted to get it over and done with,” she said.
*Thembi Dlamini explained that she was told about the sterilisation when she was 38 weeks pregnant. “The idea was put in my head on a routine visit to the doctor,” she said.
“An intern doctor asked me if I would like to be sterilised, and before I could respond, she turned to the doctor in charge and made a derogatory remark about HIV-positive women being hyper-productive and troublesome,” Dlamini said.
“I was sterilised simply because I was HIV positive and yes I do feel that I was targeted because of my HIV status,” she said.
Her Rights Initiative and the Women’s Legal Centre have documented 38 cases in which women alleged that they were coerced into being sterilised and 10 cases in which women alleged that they were forced into being sterilised.
“We believe that more cases like these are still out there and haven’t yet been reported,” said Sixolile Ngcobo from Oxfam.
“Many women are not aware of their rights at the time of sterilisation, and all the women we have worked for want redress,” said Strode.
According to Jody-Lee Fredericks from the Women’s Legal Centre, the Sterilisation Act clearly states that healthcare workers are obliged to explain the process and consequences of sterilisation in a language that the women understand.
Strode confirmed that the aim of the complaint was to find an alternative way forward to ensure the practice was stopped.
According to Strode this could only be done through law reform, training healthcare workers and redress for the women.
*not their real names.
