A threat to ‘getting to zero’
What you need to know:
While the battle against HIV-Aids has registered remarkable success, with fewer Aids-related deaths and new infections, the violation of women’s sexual and reproductive rights could undo some of these gains.
Today Kenya joins the world in marking yet another World Aids Day.
Under the ongoing international theme, “Getting to Zero”, which was started in 2011, the world will be celebrating the milestones that have been achieved to reduce the number of new HIV infections as well as Aids-related deaths.
“Getting to zero”, the UNAIDS says, was part of a vision of achieving “Zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths.”
But even with these milestones and new policies, the country cannot ignore the plight of HIV-positive women who will today be seeking justice tagainst a number of international NGOs over claims that they were sterilised without their consent.
Jane (name changed to protect her identity), will be among the plaintiffs who have filed a case against an international medical humanitarian organisation, claiming that it violated their right to choose their desired method of contraception.
Jane knew about her HIV status 13 years ago, after her newborn twins suffered inexplicable bouts of illnesses.
“When I rushed my son to hospital, the doctor, upon examining him, asked me whether I had ever been tested for the virus. I said no,” recalls Jane.
After taking tests, as the doctor had advised, Jane and her children were found to be positive and were immediately put on anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).
“Before I got tested, I could read lots of suspicion among doctors who I visited with my children. All of them often asked suspicious questions like what work my husband did, if he ever slept away from home. But none of them ever told me why they were asking,” she says.
However, after learning about her status, she she understood the reasons for the uncomfortable questions.
ABANDONEMENT
Despite knowing that Jane and their two young children would have to take ARVs for the rest of their lives, Jane’s husband abandoned her.
As if that was not bad enough, after divorcing her first husband and remarrying and getting pregnant, she underwent undergo what she says was a forced bilateral tubal ligation (BTL).
A BTL, commonly referred to as sterilisation, is a surgical procedure in which a woman’s fallopian tubes are blocked to prevent the ovum (egg) from being fertilised.
“At that time I was under an NGO programme that gave us cooking oil and foodstuff in addition to the drugs. When I went to deliver, they offered to pay for a caesarean section to ensure that I delivered a healthy baby, but on condition that I had agreed to a TBL. I had no choice because I wanted a healthy child and back then, a C-section was the only sure way,” says Jane bitterly.
However, her story is not unique. Many other women across the country claim to have been coerced into undergoing sterilisation against their wish.
Today Jane will be among the group of about 20 women seeking redress in court for what they say was an infringement of rights.
Gladys Kiio, a programme manager at African Gender and Media Initiative Trust (GEM) says cases of forced sterilisation are higher inthe Western and Nyanza regions.
She says it is unfortunte many women only learn about it later when they want to have children and ask whether the procedure is reversible
“The violation of the sexual and reproductive health rights of HIV-positive women can threaten the gains made in battling the HIV epidemic in thw country,” she warns.