SWAZI CHILD STERILISATION – REPLY

I wrote on 2 June 2008 that a representative of Skillshare International from the UK wrote in the Times Sunday that parents of Swazi children of ‘unsound mind’ should have the option to have the children sterilised to stop them having children of their own. The writer, Linda Kanya, has emailed to respond to my comments.

Here is Kanya’s reply in full. I have made a couple of comments at the end of the email.

I am also publishing the full text of Kanya’s Times Sunday article here.


Thank - you for your comments regarding the article featured in the Sunday Times on Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights. We apologize for the late response.

I would like to reemphasize that at the core of the CEDAW project are the individual's human rights. Infringing on any one person's freedoms is not the objective of the project or Skillshare International as a whole. I do believe there was a misinterpretation of the article in regards to women and girls of unsound mind.

I will quote the full section touching on the subject so that I may address all your concerns.

"Women and girls of unsound mind are also touched by the laws governing sexual health and reproductive rights, they are greatly at risk of being taken advantage of sexually. The guardians of this population should have the option of sterilizing their child. The process again is a lengthy one for these parents/guardians. Essentially, government needs to change law and policy, and thereafter ensure that the laws are supported by proper services."

The point of the article was to discuss women's access to sexual and reproductive health services. In this particular section I refer to women and girls of unsound mind, specifically women with profound mental retardation, those who have the very little intellectual or cognitive ability.

I refer to parents or guardians of the women or girls of unsound mind being able to access this option, with the belief that they would be able to assess the child's ability to consent to sex; go through pregnancy; and care for a child from birth to adulthood. The reality is there are women and girls in this country that are profoundly retarded and they tend to be victims of rape.

The article does not speak of compulsory or forced sterilisation. I would like to emphasize that I was not calling for mass sterilization of women with mental disability. Your blog entry is sensationalizing the article.

I realize that I might have expanded on my definition of women and girls of unsound mind and further explained why the parents should have the option of sterilization.

Skillshare is dedicated to promoting full respect for human rights across the world and of course does not support the forced sterilization of women or children. It recognizes that the responsibility for abuse in all cases remains with the perpetrators and never, ever the victims or their families.

We appreciate your comments on our article, and hope you will continue to read our column.

Sincerely,
Linda Kanya

I have a couple of points. If a woman or child who is considered to be of ‘unsound mind’ does not give permission to be sterilised, that is ‘forced sterilisation’.

Kanya did not respond to the point about whether Skillshare is also advocating that what is good enough for the Swazi child is also good enough for children who live in the UK.

See also
CALL TO STERILISE SWAZI CHILDREN
SILENCE ON SWAZI CHILD STERILISATION
THE SWAZI STERILISATION ARTICLE