{"id":48511,"date":"2022-06-01T14:24:24","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48511"},"modified":"2022-06-01T14:24:24","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:24:24","slug":"chilean-activists-celebrate-apology-in-forced-sterilisation-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48511","title":{"rendered":"Chilean activists celebrate apology in forced sterilisation case"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Unprecedented acknowledgement of state culpability in HIV\/AIDS case \u2018sets standards\u2019 across the region, advocates say.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Santiago, Chile \u2013<\/strong> Two decades ago, Francisca entered a Chilean hospital to give birth to her first child. The HIV-positive woman was placed under anaesthesia for a Caesarean section, and she delivered a healthy baby boy.<\/p>\n<p>But when she awoke after the operation in 2002, doctors informed Francisca that she would never be able to have another child. Without her consent, they had performed a sterilisation procedure, saying it would be irresponsible for her to have more children because of her HIV status.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, following a landmark reparations deal that advocates have touted as a considerable step forward in the country, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/3\/11\/chile-swears-in-new-president-gabriel-boric-historic-shift\">President Gabriel Boric<\/a> publicly apologised to Francisca at a ceremony in the capital Santiago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe state is responsible. I promise \u2026 that we will do better so that this never happens again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Under the deal announced last August, the government agreed to pay Francisca reparations for her ordeal and to work to raise awareness of reproductive justice. Enid Muthoni Ndiga, chief programme officer at the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global legal advocacy organisation, said the agreement was \u201csymbolic\u201d on many levels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the first time, the state is actively acknowledging its international obligation, and that Francisca\u2019s rights, as with the rights of many other women, have been violated,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cThis type of mechanism sets standards, not just for governments in other countries across the region, but also for other survivors to seek justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" height=\"434\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0whAEkynog4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" width=\"770\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Francisca, who has remained anonymous and used a pseudonym throughout the process, watched the apology via livestream. Afterwards, she said she hoped the outcome of her case would help other affected women.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am happy to close the chapter. I now want to live in peace with my son,\u201d she told Al Jazeera in a statement. \u201cI hope that many will now be able to defend their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Systemic problem<\/h2>\n<p>Francisca spent two decades fighting for justice, turning to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) after her case was dismissed in the Chilean court system.<\/p>\n<p>According to a joint 2010 report by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Chilean organisation Vivo Positivo \u2013 both of which represented Francisca in the IACHR case \u2013 HIV-positive women in Chile \u201care routinely pressured to prevent pregnancy\u201d, while coercive sterilisation \u201cis a systemic problem\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The report cited a 2004 study of women living with HIV\/AIDS in Chile, noting that 56 percent reported being pressured by health workers to prevent pregnancy. Of those who had undergone sterilisation, half had done so \u201cunder pressure or by force\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Across Latin America, where an estimated 610,000 women live with HIV\/AIDS, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/opinions\/2011\/8\/4\/stigmatising-feminism-in-latin-america\">forced or coerced sterilisations<\/a> have been documented in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2021\/5\/19\/peru-forced-sterilisations-case-fears-they-could-get-away-with\">various countries<\/a>, including Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador.<\/p>\n<p>Jaime Argueta, of the El Salvadoran HIV\/AIDS organisation Vida Nueva, said many doctors in the country believe they have the right to sterilise HIV-positive women if they come from poor or vulnerable backgrounds. The Chilean agreement \u201ccan help raise awareness against these practices\u201d across the region, he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p><span><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" height=\"434\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NCVamT6VbKM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" width=\"770\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Over the past decade in Chile, new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have each increased by more than a third. Public health initiatives have largely focused on men, often neglecting the reproductive rights of an estimated 14,000 HIV-positive women in the country.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the deal on Francisca\u2019s case, Boric has promised to provide specialist training to medical workers on HIV\/AIDS to curb discrimination, and to ensure that judges and lawyers are aware that affected women have a right to reparations.<\/p>\n<p>Chilean activist Elayne Leyton, who has lived with HIV since the late 1990s, said the state\u2019s actions were long overdue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years, no one has talked about women living with HIV. We\u2019ve had to hide in our houses like rats, suffer discrimination, and practically eliminate ourselves from society,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cAt last, someone is taking responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unprecedented acknowledgement of state culpability in HIV\/AIDS case \u2018sets standards\u2019 across the region, advocates say.Santiago, Chile \u2013 Two decades ago, Francisca entered a Chilean hospital to give birth to her first child. The HIV-positive woman was placed under anaesthesia for a Caesarean section, and she delivered a healthy baby boy. But when she awoke after&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}