The Gauteng health department has made an out-of-court settlement agreement to pay almost half-a-million rand to an HIV-positive woman for damages for the pain and suffering she endured as a result of being coercively sterilized in a state hospital. The department confirmed on Friday that the settlement was made last month. Activists say the outcome of the nearly two year-long legal battle is a ‘landmark and sets a precedent for other women who were reportedly strong-armed into the permanent contraceptive procedures because they wereHIV-positive. Read full article here.