( CNN ) -- A judge ruled Monday that three HIV-positive women in Namibia were sterilized without their informed consent , their lawyer said . But the high court judge said the women did not provide enough evidence to prove that they were sterilized because they were HIV-positive , according to attorney Amon Ngavetene . The judge has not yet decided on awarding damages in the case , said Ngavetene , coordinator of the AIDS Law Unit at the Legal Assistance Centre . The women were seeking 1.2 million Namibian dollars ( about $ 150,000 ) in compensation . The center is representing 18 women , alleging that public hospitals sterilized them without their informed consent . Namibian authorities have denied accusations that forced sterilizations have been a matter of government policy . Emilia Handumbo , one of the HIV-positive women suing the government , told CNN last year that she was given documents to sign while she was in labor and about to give birth in a public hospital . Watch : Forced sterilization in Africa . `` I thought they were papers for the caesarian , but then the nurse said to me , ' I think they are going to close you , ' '' she said . Thanks to anti-AIDS drugs , Handumbo gave birth to a healthy , HIV-negative baby . But then the letters `` BTL '' appeared in her hospital file . The letters , she later learned , stood for bilateral tubal ligation , a form of sterilization . Attorney Corinna van Wyk said Handumbo is one of many women who are victims of a broken health system . `` Doctors are taking advantage of them , '' van Wyk said . 'The damage is permanent , obviously , not only physically . These women are discriminated against culturally because they can no longer bear children , '' she said . Human rights groups say that the high profile nature of Monday 's case has done little to change the conduct of some health care workers in Namibia , alleging that more HIV-positive women who claim they were forcibly sterilized are still coming forward . A study from the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS and the Namibia Women 's Health Network unearthed 40 cases in three of the country 's regions . AIDS activist Jenny Gatsi-Mallet , who helped conduct the research , said doctors working for the state have told her they were just following guidelines . `` They are saying that these guidelines came into being when AIDS first came into the country , and I think that was in 2001 , and it was a directive that says any woman who tests positive for HIV should be sterilized straight away , '' Gatsi-Mallet said . But Dr. Norbert Forster , deputy permanent secretary of Namibia 's health ministry , told CNN last year that the sterilization of HIV-positive women was `` not at all '' an official policy . `` That is not our position , '' he said , adding that forcing women to sign consent documents `` would not be in line '' with the government 's policy . Peruvian authorities reopen investigation into forced sterilization . U.S. hearing explores history of forced sterilization .
The ruling is the first in a series of cases brought against the Namibian government . Attorneys allege that public officials sterilized at least 18 HIV - positive women . ` ` The nurse said to me , ' I think they are going to close you , ' '' one lawyer said . Authorities deny accusations that sterilizations are a government policy .