FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Nairobi- December 19, 2022 – After an 8-year wait, women living with HIV who have been fighting to achieve justice for forced and coerced sterilization have been handed a major win by the High Court of Kenya. The court has ruled that a healthcare provider had forced a woman living with HIV to undergo tubal ligation without her consent. The court held that sterilizing her without her consent was discriminatory and violated her rights, including her rights to dignity, freedom from discrimination to the highest attainable standard of health and to found a family. The petitioner (known only as LAW to protect her identity) was awarded Kshs. 3,000,000.00 in damages.
We applaud the High Court of Kenya for its thoughtful deliberations and commitment to justice. The long struggle for justice waged by this brave woman living with HIV who came forward to claim her rights has finally been won! We hope this will serve as an incentive to other women living with HIV to come forward and a call to action for governments to take urgent action to protect the rights of women living with HIV”– Lillian Mworeko, Executive Director, ICW Eastern Africa
The International Community of Women Living with HIV Global and ICW Kenya joined this case as interested parties to protect the rights of women living with HIV and to ensure that the lived experiences and realities of women living with HIV informed the court’s deliberations. ICW’s networks have been at the forefront of documenting and advocating against forced and coerced sterilization and other forms of obstetric violence around the world and ICW Kenya has provided peer support to and advocated on behalf of women living with HIV who have experienced forced or coerced sterilization.
While reading the determination, the court considered the question of how women living with HIV exercise their informed choices when accessing reproductive healthcare and found that a healthcare provider has a duty to ensure that patients who present themselves for treatment at healthcare facilities are informed of medical procedures that are to be conducted on them, including possible outcomes. The court highlighted the various factors that may make women vulnerable in decision-making processes at health facilities. Justice Mrima noted that due to their HIV status, women living with HIV are compelled to make wrong decisions on reproductive
health due to stigma and fear, which led to the forced sterilization of LAW. With this ruling, the Kenyan court has recognized the discriminatory nature of forced and coerced sterilization.
“This is a critical step towards justice for one woman living with HIV who was robbed of choice on her reproductive health at the tender age of twenty years as she sought antenatal care. This decision has far-reaching consequences not only for HIV-positive women in Kenya but for the untold numbers of HIV-positive women throughout Africa and the entire world who have been forcibly sterilized,” Lucy Ghati, Executive Director, ICW Kenya Chapter
“This win in not just for me but for each woman living with HIV who has been subjected to forced sterilization, I’m happy that the violations against us have been acknowledged and hope my story will be a tool for the protection of the right to health for other women living with HIV” remarked LAW in a statement released by KELIN who brought the matter to court on behalf of women living with HIV.
“This is just one woman and it’s a tip of the iceberg,” ICW K’s Chairperson, Patricia Asero noted in a statement. “The government needs to take active steps to ensure all women subjected to this unlawful practice get redress.”
ICW networks continue to document and confront violations of human rights experienced by women living with HIV in healthcare settings, including forced and coerced sterilization and other forms of obstetric violence. This widespread and persistent global phenomenon has now been reported by women living with HIV in nearly 40 countries.
ICW Global, ICW Eastern Africa and ICW Kenya, among other rights organizations, celebrate the High Court’s leadership on this issue and urge the Kenyan government to initiate investigations into the other alleged cases of human rights violations experienced by women living with HIV and/ or take urgent action to initiate a fair and safe process by which women who have experienced forced or coerced sterilization could achieve redress in the form of compensation, reversals, psychosocial support, and support to have children through IVF or surrogacy as they desire.
“We celebrate the bravery and the victory of LAW who came forward to claim her rights. Until these harmful practices are ended everywhere and until women who have experienced these violations have justice, ICW will keep fighting for full realization of the human rights of women living with HIV.” -Sophie Brion, Director of Global Programs, ICW Global.
CONTACT:
| Patricia Asero ICW Kenya Chairperson Cell:+254713354986 patriciaasero@gmail.com Lucy Ghati Executive Director, ICW Kenya Cell: +254722747382 lghati@gmail.com |
