A Kenyan court has awarded four women living with HIV – who were then sterilised without their consent – about $20,000 (£16,000) each as damages.
The judge ruled that the forced sterilisation was a violation of their fundamental rights including the right to establish a family.
Last year a court found the medical charities Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Marie Stopes International and a maternity hospital culpable of coercing the women to undergo the procedure.
While the two charities did not directly carry out sterilisations, the women’s lawyer told the court that they had played a significant role by referring the women to hospital.
The court however dismissed claims against the health minister and the attorney general.
On the continent, allegations of women being sterilised without their consent are common in Kenya, Swaziland, Namibia and South Africa.