ICW CELEBRATES WORLD AIDS DAY, 2014 IN KENYA:
A CALL TO END FORCED AND COERCED STERILIZATION
Nairobi, Kenya 1st December, 2014 - The International community of Women Living with HIV
(ICW) joins celebrants during the commemoration of 'World AIDS Day (WAD)' 2014, to be held at
the Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos County in Kenya. The theme this year is: 'Getting to Zero' and the
Machakos County Commissioner will flag off the WAD processions.
ICW calls upon all partners and stakeholders in Kenya and across the world to stand up to end
Forced and Coerced Sterilization of women living with HIV.
ICW Global Office, in partnership with ICW Kenya, will be highlighting gains made in the areas of
gender, human rights and HIV and calling attention to human rights abuses still faced by women
living with HIV-particularly forced and coerced sterilization. The forced and coerced sterilization
of women living with HIV is a serious violation of women's fundamental human rights to bodily
integrity, informed consent and to make our own reproductive choices. Sterilization without
informed consent or under coercion is a widespread form of institutionalized violence against
women and is part of a systemic pattern of violations of sexual and reproductive rights
experienced globally by women living with HIV.
"Women living with HIV continue being forced and coerced into sterilization without consideration
to their sexual and reproductive health choices," said Ms. Inviolata Mmbwavi, ICW Kenya's
Coordinator.
Forced or coerced sterilizations have been reported and documented by ICW and others in
Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, El
Salvador, Fiji, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal,
Nicaragua, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda,
Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam and Zambia. The widespread nature of this practice
demands a strong and coordinated response at the national, regional and global levels.
Acknowledging Kenya's leadership on this issue as critical for the region, ICW urges the
First Lady of Kenya, Lady Margaret Kenyatta, on this World AIDS Day to call on All Kenyans
and leaders around the world to uphold the human rights of women and girls living with
HIV and commit to ending the practice of forced and coerced sterilization of women living
with HIV.
ICW supports the First Lady and her beyond zero campaign and hopes this campaign will include
championing of the human rights of Women Living with HIV especially on this issue of forced and
coerced sterilization. Lady Margaret is a powerful ally and champion of many women's issues and
has attracted enormous attention and interest. We now look forward to supporting actions that
will respect and protect the human rights of women living with HIV as we move toward a new
global agenda
"As a Kenyan, I believe that we need to step up and do justice to the women who have experienced
this type of systemic injustice. Forced and coerced sterilization is an act of violence; and act of
torture," said Teresia Njoki Otieno, ICW Global chair.
###
For more information contact:
ICW
Global Director - Rebecca Matheson, icwglobaldirector@gmail.com
ICW Kenya
Coordinator -Inviolata Mmbwavi, inviom@gmail.com
Source: ICW_PRESS_RELEASE_WAD_KENYA_2014.pdf
Reproduced with permission - "ICW: The International Community of Women with HIV/AIDS"
ICW: The International Community of Women with HIV/AIDS
For more HIV and AIDS News visit...
Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News |
