Gendered Power Relations and Informed Consent: The I.V. v. Bolivia Case

In a landmark decision handed down on November 30, 2016, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights analyzed the foundations of the right to informed consent. The court held Bolivia responsible for the forced sterilization of I.V., an immigrant woman from Peru, and recognized the importance of personal autonomy as a constitutive element of personality. This paper discusses the ethical foundations of the decision and explains the relevance of this judgment in furthering women’s rights in Latin America.