After a year of unsuccessful private prosecutions and lawsuits before Chilean judicial and health bodies, a woman living with HIV and sterilized without her consent filed a complaint against Chile before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) last February 2, charging that the government failed to protect her from being forcibly sterilized.

The 27-year-old woman from Hualañé, Chile, was sterilized at the state hospital of Curicó, immediately after giving birth in 2002. The woman, living with HIV, stated she was not asked to authorize such a surgical procedure, nor was the subject discussed with her, and she expressed the desire to have more children.

Chilean regulations mandate written consent for sterilizations. The Ministry of Health makes it clear: “In the cases of sterilization during a cesarean, the procedures of counseling and consent have to be completed and signed prior to the sterilization.”

The young woman submitted a private prosecution against the hospital of Curicó and a lawsuit before the Chilean courts of justice, but despite the proofs submitted, neither the Ministry of Health nor the tribunals found in their investigations human rights violations.

The Chilean woman F.S. (who prefers to remain anonymous) claims that the hospital staff sterilized her because of her HIV status. Therefore, Vivo Positivo, the Chilean organization which advocates for people living with HIV/AIDS, began working with the Center for Reproductive Rights, and both submitted a petition on F.S.’s behalf before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which monitors the Organization of American States members’ compliance with the American Convention on Human Rights.

In the complaint, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Vivo Positivo argued that the state of Chile violated the woman’s right to be free from all forms of discrimination, the right to decide the number and spacing of her children, the right to be free of violence, and the right to have access to justice. These rights are guaranteed under the American Convention on Human Rights and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women.

“Despite proof to the contrary, neither the Ministry of Health nor the Chilean Courts found that the facts of this case amounted to a violation of F.S.’s human rights. This denial of justice clearly demonstrates the discrimination that people living with HIV/AIDS continue to suffer in Chile,” said Vasili Deliyanis, executive director of Vivo Positivo. “The presentation of this case to an international tribunal provides a prime opportunity to reinvigorate the discussion on the rights of HIV-positive women in our country. It also provides an opportunity for the Chilean State to reestablish the rule of law.”

Through this complaint the Center and Vivo Positivo “are asking the IACHR to acknowledge human rights violation, undo the harm done to F.S. and provide her with monetary compensation; and adopt policies that guarantee women living with HIV the freedom to make reproductive health decisions without coercion,” stated the Center’s press release.

“Forced sterilization is a violation of a woman’s most basic human rights and is all too often committed against members of vulnerable groups, which deserve special protection, such as women living with HIV,” said Luisa Cabal, director of the international program at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is a global legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing women’s reproductive health, self-determination, and dignity as basic human rights. “It’s time that the Chilean government respects the human rights of all its citizens and takes concrete action to guarantee that a woman living with HIV receives quality reproductive health services and has the ability to make decisions about her own life.”

Unfortunately, her case is not the only one. Vivo Positivo and others conducted the study “Chilean Women Living with HIV/AIDS: Sexual and Reproductive Rights?” which revealed pressures on women to get sterilized and found that women have even been sterilized without consent.

The research included a comprehensive questionnaire, which included an index of pressures. Women were asked if they had been pressured “to change your sexual habits,” “to use contraception methods,” “to use the same contraception method,” and “to get a sterilization.” Analysis found that 50% of respondents hadn’t been pressured, 35% had been somewhat and 15% had been strongly pressured. Therefore, the study concluded that in a significant proportion of cases counseling promotes the idea that women with HIV should not become pregnant.

The study found that 80% of women who have been sterilized obtained this surgery after having being informed of their HIV status. The questionnaire also shows a decreasing practice of sterilizations on women living with HIV-AIDS from 2000. This could be linked with the resolution mandating written, informed consent, issued in 2000, and signed by the current President Michelle Bachelet and Ministry of Health at this year.

Yet nearly a third — 29% — of those who were sterilized said they had been pressured by medical staff to do so and 10% of the sterilizations were performed without their consent. Moreover, young women are the majority in both cases, this is to say, women starting their reproductive lives.

In Chile, the mother-to-child transmission of HIV has a 1.8% probability, as long as the woman receives anti-retroviral therapy. HIV experts also recommend cesarean delivery to diminish the contagious risk and that mothers living with HIV avoid breastfeeding.