Their rights to dignity were not respected, highlights the Gender Equality Commission on women sterilized without consent
At least 48 pregnant women with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) were sterilized in public hospitals in South Africa without their consent, which did not respect their rights to dignity, bodily integrity and freedom, the Gender Equality Commission reported today (CGE).
The CGE, an independent South African body with a constitutional mandate, released that conclusion today during the presentation in Johannesburg of a report of an investigation into such incidents between 2002 and 2015. According to South African law, the written agreement of the patient is required. for any sterilization.
"It could not reasonably be said that the claimants gave their consent to the procedure, given the current structure of the consent forms and the alleged unethical processes used to obtain consent," said Commission President Tamara Mathebula.
"Therefore, they were forced and / or coerced to be sterilized," added Mathebula, who demanded that the government take action to avoid the repetition of events such as those denounced.
When one of the sterilized women, according to the report, asked what the forms were, she assured that they answered her: "You, people with HIV, do not ask questions when you make babies. Why do you ask questions now? You should be locked up because people with HIV like having babies and that just bothers us. Just sign the forms. "
An analysis of the complainants’ affidavits also revealed that the majority of the complainants had suffered from depression from the moment they learned that they would never be able to conceive due to forced sterilization, Mathebula said.
The report responds to a complaint made to the CGE almost five years ago by the organization Centro Legal de Mujeres on behalf of the NGOs "Her Rights Initiative" and "International Community of Women Living with HIV."
The researchers focused in particular on 15 hospitals in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal (southeast) and Gauteng (center), where most of the affected women lived.
According to official statistics, about eight million people are living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in South Africa.
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