The ICWEA study titled “Violations of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) of Women living with HIV in Clinical and Community Settings in Uganda” shows violation of a wide range of sexual reproductive health rights of women living with HIV. The study found that the most experienced violation is forced and/or coerced sterilization. Having given the demographic characteristic of the study and its findings, we will now share stories of women living with HIV who have faced coerced and/or coerced sterilization.
I was not told about the procedure
I was sterilized in 2008 at the age of 29 in a hospital. I went to the hospital to get treatment because my fallopian tubes were causing me pain and I had a bad discharge. The doctor decided to test me for HIV and found that I was HIV positive. I was in a lot of pain and the situation was bad. They told me they were going to clean my womb. They took me to the examination room and asked me how many children I had. I told them I had four. They were using English. I did not understand what they were saying because I never studied English. They told me they were going to give me treatment. Later when I gained consciousness I saw a plaster on my stomach, but because I was in great pain, I couldn’t ask questions. They gave me drugs to take and told me I would be fine and that if I get any problem I should come back. After sometime, I wanted to reproduce but I was not conceiving and I went to another hospital where they told me my fallopian tubes had been cut. Yet the hospital doctor did not tell me that they had sterilized me. I felt very bad. Ida Nakijjoba
Note: For purposes of confidentiality, all names used under this section are pseudonym names
For more cases in the report check: http://www.icwea.org/2015/11/report-violation-of-sexual-and-reproductive-health-rights-of-women-living-with-hiv-in-clinical-and-community-settings-in-uganda/
