Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Primary tabs

Laxmi Mandal v. Deen Dayal Harinagar Hospital & Ors, W.P.(C) Nos. 8853 of 2008

This case was brought on behalf of Shanti Devi, a women living in poverty from a Scheduled Caste, after she died as the result of being refused adequate maternal healthcare despite the fact that she qualified for the free services under existing state-sponsored schemes. In 2008, Shanti Devi was forced to carry a dead fetus in her womb for five days after being denied medical treatment at several hospitals because her husband was unable to show a valid ration card for medical services, despite being qualified for one as they lived below the poverty line.

K.H. and Others v. Slovakia, European Court of Human Rights, (Application no. 32881/04)

Eight women, all members of the Roma community in Slovakia, received gynaecological and obstetric treatment in eastern Slovakia. After this treatment, all eight women were unsuccessful in conceiving again. The women recalled being asked to sign documents prior to discharge from the hospital, but they were unable to identify the contents of the documents they signed.

A.S. v. Hungary, Communication No. 4/2004, CEDAW/C/36/D/4/2004

Upon going into labor, Ms. A.S., a member of the Roma community, needed an emergency Caesarian section. Immediately before the surgery, a doctor asked Ms. A.S. to sign consent forms on which the doctor had hand-written a statement that Ms. A.S. consented to a sterilization procedure. Ms. A.S. did not understand the statement or that she had been sterilized until after the operation took place. Her claim of civil rights violations and negligent sterilization was rejected at the local level. In her communication to the CEDAW Committee, it found that the Ms. A.S.

Decision T-760 of 2008

The Colombian Constitutional Court has among its functions the review of tutela actions. The Court annually reviews a small proportion of the more than 300,000 tutela actions resolved by lower judges; 36% of which are related to the right to health according to data of the Colombian Ombudsman's Office for 2005. Decision T-760 of 2008 accumulated 22 of these cases. However, the Court did not limit itself to reviewing and resolving these individual cases.

People living with HIV [ENG]

The Chilean Health Ministry issued a decree ordering free medical treatment and tests for all sexually transmitted diseases, including the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). However, the decree was not complied with in the case of HIV. Given this situation, the organization Vivo Positivo, sponsored by Clínica de Acciones de Interés Público de la Universidad Diego Portales, filed three amparo actions requesting the East Metropolitan Health Service and the Health Ministry to comply with the decree.