By Masoka Dube
The Her Rights Initiative (HRI) and its founder Dr Sthembiso Mthembu are leading the charge against the Department of Health to win compensation for victims of forced sterilisation.
Mthembu, a founder of the advocacy group HRI and herself a victim of forced sterilisation, said her organisation is working in partnership with the Women’s Legal Centre (WLC).
On Thursday, the organisations launched a programme aimed at creating a platform for litigation to achieve justice for women whose uteruses were forcefully removed during HIV treatment.
When HIV/Aids was at its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many women who were infected were forced to sterilise without their consent.
Although forced sterilisation is illegal in South Africa, doctors at the time removed the uteruses of women who were HIV-positive either without prior warning or permission.
“We are rolling out legal research, advocacy, victim participation and victim support programmes to advocate for support and seek justice for women who were forced and coerced into sterilisation,” she said.
HRI represents 85 women from KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Sexual Rights Initiative Geneva and ProBono.Org South Africa are advocacy partners of HRI.
Mthembu said one of the aims of the introduced programme is to broaden the understanding of the impacts of forced sterilisations and resultant infertility on the lives of the victims.
It is estimated that thousands of HIV-positive women have been subjected to forced sterilisation.
The battle of forcing the government to compensate the victims started in 2015 when HRI and WLC lodged a complaint with the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) on behalf of 48 women.
The document that was shared with Scrolla.Africa indicates that the CGE investigation found that a number of HIV-positive women were forced into sterilisation.
“These findings indicate that the South African state violated 26 of the human rights of the women,” said the document.
“Some of the violations include that HIV-positive women were subjected to cruel, torturous, inhuman and degrading treatment.”
One of the recommendations of the CGE report is that the national Department of Health must negotiate appropriate compensation with the women.
National Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale did not respond to questions sent to him last week.
Pictured above: He
Image source:@City Press
