The United Nations has recorded 48 women with HIV sterilised without their consent in state hospitals in South Africa.
South Africa has the highest rate of HIV in the world with about 7.7 million people out of 56.72 million people in the country, about 20.4% of the population.
The investigation began when a complaint was filed in 2015 by the non-profit women’s legal centre. Some of the women said they were coerced or forced into having the procedure while they were giving birth.
One woman, in particular, Bongekile Msibi spoke to BBC. Msibi said she was unaware of her sterilization for 11 years when she tried to have another child. Msibi said she desperately wants to have another baby.
The investigators have reported that they have been hindered because some patients’ files have disappeared and the hospital staffs in the public hospitals have been hostile since the investigations began.
The health department in South Africa is yet to reply to these accusations but Zweli Mkhize, the Minister of Health has requested a meeting to discuss these accusations.
The women in South Africa have been sterilized through hysterectomy and tubal litigation.
Hysterectomy is a surgical procedure where a woman’s uterus is removed. Tubal litigation is a surgical procedure whereby a woman’s fallopian tubes are either removed or permanently blocked.
