User:MegJean/sandbox

Despite advances made in preventing transmission, HIV-positive women still face discrimination regarding their reproductive choices. Compulsory sterilisation in an attempt to limit mother-to-child transmission has been practiced in Africa, Asia and Latin American. Women are forced to undergo sterilisation without their knowledge or informed consent and misinformation and incentives are often used in order to coerce them into accepting the procedure. The forced sterilisation of HIV-positive women is internationally recognised as a violation of human rights.

Legal advocacy against this practice has occurred in some countries. In Namibia, litigation was brought against the government by three HIV-positive women who claimed they were coerced during labour into signing consent forms that gave permission for the hospital to perform a sterilisation. The LM & Others v Government of Namibia case is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan African to deal with coerced sterilisation of HIV-positive woman. The court ruled that these women were sterilised without their consent but failed to find that this was due to their HIV status. A recent case in Chile have also aimed to seek government accountability for violation of sexual and reproductive rights of women living with HIV.