Two HIV-positive Namibian women who allege they were sterilised against their will in public hospitals are seeking redress through the courts, the first of more than 20 known cases, according to the International Community for Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW). The ICW raised the alarm over what it terms forced or coerced sterilisations among HIV-positive women more than a year ago, after hearing accounts of it through its regular forums for HIV-positive young women. Another six cases could potentially go to trial this year, and a further 20 are being looked into by the ICW. However, legal action has been hampered by difficulties in collecting evidence and statements from women involved, who are often reluctant to come forward due to fears that both their HIV status and their inability to bear children will be made public. The ICW believes informed consent was not sought, as the majority of these women are rural or illiterate.
Values, Policies and Rights
This paper assesses whether ratification of human-rights treaties is associated with improved health and social indicators. Data for health (including HIV prevalence, and maternal, infant, and child [<5 years] mortalities) and social indicators (child labour, human development index, sex gap, and corruption index), gathered from 170 countries, showed no consistent associations between ratification of human-rights treaties and health or social outcomes. Established market economy states had consistently improved health compared with less-wealthy settings, but this was not associated with treaty ratification. The paper suggests more stringent requirements for ratification of treaties, improved accountability mechanisms to monitor compliance of states and financial assistance to support the realisation of the right to health.
The People’s Health Movement (PHM) has initiated a Global Right to Health Care (RTHC) Campaign to be developed in collaboration with various networks, coalitions and organisations sharing a similar perspective. This campaign will document violations of health rights, present country level assessments of the right to health care and advocate for fulfillment of commitments to the right to health care at the national, regional and global levels. The campaign has three phases of action: Phase 1 is concerned with the production of diagnostic assessment reports on the RTHC in more than 20 countries; Phase 2 is concerned with the development and interactions of regional assemblies to share results and enable a dialogue between PHM and partners; and Phase 3 looks to the issue of global expansion by implementing Phase 2 conclusions and recommendations and drafting and submitting time-bound resolutions on health rights. To get involved, contact Claudio Schuftan at the email address provided.
African governments are failing to offer even the most basic healthcare that could save lives, speakers warned a civil society meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Delegates spoke particularly of the failure to uphold women's right to sexual and reproductive health services, calling for a response that takes into consideration the need to empower women. They noted that there is often no access to medical screening and treatment services for illnesses like cervical cancer, which affect large numbers of women but are rarely offered free of charge in pubic health centres.
Two Norwegian companies have tested their products in developing countries in the past decade: in Africa, A-Viral tested AIDS medications in 300 HIV-positive persons in Uganda in 1997–1998 and NorChip tested equipment for diagnosing cervical cancer in 340–350 women in civil war-devastated Congo in 2003. This report presents the patients' stories and examines the ethics of the companies' practices. The patients NorWatch spoke with had a near-total lack of knowledge about what kind of project they had participated in. Also, they all said – independently of each other – that they did not receive a copy of the agreement they entered into with the pharmaceutical company. The company’s briefing of the patients was condemned by Norway’s National Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (NEM). ‘The patients’ information is, in our judgment, too inadequate and would not have been recommended here,’ it wrote in 2002.
This study reports on the prevalence and circumstances of sexual violence in girls in Swaziland, and assesses the negative health consequences. It obtained data from a nationally representative sample of 1,244 girls and women aged 13–24 years from selected households in Swaziland between, with a two-stage cluster design. It found that 33.2% of respondents reported an incident of sexual violence before they reached 18 years of age, mostly by men or boys from the neighbourhood and boyfriends or husbands. Sexual violence was associated with reported lifetime experience of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy complications or miscarriages, unwanted pregnancy and depression. Knowledge of the high prevalence of sexual violence against girls in Swaziland and its associated serious health-related conditions and behaviours should be used to develop effective HIV and sexually transmitted diseases prevention strategies.
This paper suggests that the extent to which conflict restricts women’s freedom of movement depends on a number of factors, including the stage of conflict, whether the women are displaced, whether they are directly or indirectly affected by the conflict and the cultural norms of the conflict-affected area. In times of political, economic and social uncertainty, there is a strong tendency to revert to traditional values, which appear to offer protection for women and girls, but which restrict their mobility. Some of the negative impacts of conflict on women‘s health and education include: lowered access to reproductive health care facilities; lack of access to education because of conflict, household and domestic tasks or cultural norms and higher teenage pregnancy rates. Girls who are disabled, disfigured or severely mentally affected by the crisis are also likely to be kept at home.
This paper reviews the literature on the association between polygyny and women's health in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that polygyny is an example of ‘co-operative conflict’ within households, with likely implications for the vulnerability of polygynous women to illness, and for their access to treatment. Polygyny is associated with an accelerated transmission of sexually transmitted infections, because it permits a multiplication of sexual partners and correlates with low rates of condom use, poor communication between spouses, and age and power imbalances, among other factors. The paper also examines areas that have so far received only cursory attention: mental health and a premature ‘social’ menopause. Although data is scarce, polygyny seems to be associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. The examples reviewed here should help build a framework for mixed method quality research to inform policy makers better.
The United States has announced that it will seek a seat this year on the United Nations Human Rights Council. The decision to run reflects the US commitment to helping the Human Rights Council play its intended role as a balanced, credible, and effective forum for the advancement of human rights. Elections to the Human Rights Council are scheduled for 12 May in the UN General Assembly in New York. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the US decision to join the UN Human Rights Council saying, ‘Full US engagement on human rights issues is an important step toward realising the goal of an inclusive and vibrant intergovernmental process to protect rights around the globe.’
The Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG on FfD), recognize that the financial and economic crisis represents a critical political opportunity to make significant structural changes in the global development macroeconomic and financial architecture that reflect rights-based and equitable principles. This statement reflects on the actions to respond to the current crisis with alternative policy approaches that harmonize with international standards and commitments to gender equality, women’s rights and human rights and empowerment.