Treaty Series No. In Yemen, Human Rights Watch documented the case of a woman with a perceived mental health condition who was chained to a door handle so she would not wander outside. [129] The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, https://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Mental%20Health/Mental%20Healthcare%20Act,%202017.pdf (accessed September 22, 2020), art. 108(e); United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, adopted October 2005, SHS/EST/05/CONF.204/3 REV, arts. But even as psychologists seek a broader impact, says Cbar Cataln, its important to remember that the trauma and disenfranchisement driving Central Americans north are deeply personal. With the right kind of support, people with mental health conditions can live and thrive in their communities. [83] Mohamed Rushdie, Torture, Rape and Death Are Crimes That Pursue 8 Million Psychiatric Patients in Egypt, January 29, 2018, https://www.tahrirnews.com/Story/866399/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B0%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AA-%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%85-%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%82-8-%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B6-%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1/%D8%AC%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A9 (accessed August 3, 2020). Human Rights Watch research in Nigeria found that people with mental health conditions were held in iron shackles around their ankles in locked-up wards in a psychiatric hospital and in government-run rehabilitation centers. [103] Colectivo Chuhcan A.C., Disability Rights International, EQUIS Justice for Women A.C., Information Group on Elected Reproduction (GIRE), Transversal, Action on the Rights of People with Disabilities A.C., and the Mexico Childrens Rights Network (REDIM), "Alternative Report by Mexican Civil Society Organizations Submitted to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: 2014-2019," 2019, https://www.driadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/Joint-Shadow-Report-CRPD-Jul2019-FINAL.pdf (accessed September 24, 2020), p. 19. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. The main causes of death of these patients are related to metabolic disorders and respiratory and heart problems, which have increased fourfold compared to the first half of last year. How is that Islamic?[125], In institutions visited by Human Rights Watch in Indonesia, male staff would enter and exit womens wards or sections at will or were responsible for the womens section, including at night, which put women and girls at increased risk of sexual violence, as well as subjected them to a constant sense of insecurity and fear. 34/180, 34 U.N. GAOR Supp. In prayer camps in Ghana, administrators and pastors told Human Rights Watch that fasting was a key component of curing a psychosocial disability. Mental health shortages range in severity across the country. Some institutions are an extension of the faith healers house or situated at a secluded end of the compound. [65] Viola Zhou, Mentally ill Chinese Girl, 8, Roped to Tree Outside by Grandparents for Nearly Six Years, South China Morning Post, September 21, 2016, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2021288/mentally-ill-chinese-girl-8-roped-tree-outside-grandparents (accessed July 28, 2020). [168], Under the CRPD, persons with disabilities have the right to choose their place of residence and with whom they live. Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed more than 350 people with psychosocial disabilities, including those who were shackled at the time of research or had been shackled at least once in their lives, and more than 430 family members, caregivers or staff working in institutions, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and other mental health professionals, faith healers, lawyers, government officials, representatives of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including organizations of persons with disabilities, and disability rights advocates. [143] When the Special Olympics team had Malaki released, he got the opportunity and training to play football. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans has some type of mental health condition. E/C.12/2000/4 (2000), para. [113] Human Rights Watch visits to Yaysan Galuh Rehabilitation Center, Yayasan Bina Lestari, Samyul Institution, 2016-2018. It focuses on raising awareness about mental health and pasung, integrating mental health into primary health services, providing mental health medication at the 9,909 community health centers, training health staff to identify and diagnose basic mental health conditions, and creating community mental health teams called Tim Penggerak Kesehatan Jiwa Masyarakat (TPKJM) that act as a coordination mechanism between the department of health and others departments at the provincial and district levels to monitor and facilitate the release of people from pasung. [42] Human Rights Watch, Disability Is Not Weakness: Discrimination and Barriers Facing Women and Girls with Disabilities in Afghanistan, April 2020, https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/04/28/disability-not-weakness/discrimination-and-barriers-facing-women-and-girls. Yet, mental health draws only limited government attention. Sophia Majlessi The numbers simply don't lie. Legal capacity: The right of an individual to make their own choices about their life. Some people cannot even afford a mask. The desk research included online search, analyses of national mental laws and policies, and review of relevant literature and domestic and international news reports. (No. 49) at 65, UN Doc. But once he was admitted, his wife really began to worry. The 56-page report, Living in Chains: Shackling of People with Psychosocial Disabilities Worldwide, examines how people with mental health conditions are often shackled by families in their own homes or in overcrowded and unsanitary institutions, against their will, due to widespread stigma and a lack of mental health services. According to Indonesias 2018 Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas), 14 percent of people with serious mental health conditions have been shackled at least once in their lives and about 30 percent of them have been shackled within three months of the survey.[141]. "We're waiting for the equivalent of a heart attack- the suicides . [66] Human Rights Watch, Living in Hell, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/03/20/living-hell/abuses-against-people-psychosocial-disabilities-indonesia, p. 35; Ministry of Health of Republic of Indonesia, Stop Stigma and Discrimination to People with Mental Disorder, October 10, 2014, http://www.depkes.go.id/article/view/201410270011/stop-stigma-dan-diskriminasi-terhadap-orang-dengan-gangguan-jiwa-odgj.html (accessed August 20, 2015); Marsel Rombe, Indonesian Mental Health Law Passed after Five Years, Jakarta Globe, July 13, 2014, http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesian-mental-health-law-passed-five-years (accessed August 19, 2015). Aisha, mother who chains her 18-year-old daughter with a psychosocial disability in the Gaza Strip told Human Rights Watch: Archbishop Danokech of the Holy Ghost Coptic Church of Africa in Kisumu, western Kenya, where over 60 men, women, and children with psychosocial disabilities are detained and most of whom are chained, told Human Rights Watch: We do not want them to wear clothes. Im never invited to happy occasions, weddings or birthdays with my family. Single session therapy has a lot of potential because its focused on giving the most help we can in the shortest amount of time, he says. Along with hundreds of thousands of others, these Central Americans are migrating north this year seeking asylum, employment and family reunification. There is no space.[96] To walk in, one had to physically tiptoe over hands and feet. (EIN 23-7092671), 1400 K Street NW, Suite 400 18 (4) and 28; ACHR, art. The nature of shackling means that people live in very restrictive conditions that reduce their ability to stand or move at all. [132] Human Rights Watch, Ghana Breaks the Chains on Mental Health, video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7idmUmMccgw; Shantha Rau Barriga, Ghana Breaks The Chains On Mental Health, commentary, Human Rights Watch Dispatch, October 16, 2017, https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/10/16/ghana-breaks-chains-mental-health; Ghana: Oversight Needed to Enforce Shackling Ban, Human Rights Watch news release, October 9, 2018, https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/10/09/ghana-oversight-needed-enforce-shackling-ban. As of 2018, more than two-thirds of all countries did not cover reimbursement for mental health services in national health insurance schemes. [4], Psychosocial disability: The preferred term to describe people with mental health conditions such as depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, and catatonia. Human Rights Watch research found that in institutions and healing centers visited, people with psychosocial disabilities often live in severely overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. These include e-trainings and guidance materials for mental health professionals, people with psychosocial disabilities and their families, and NGOs. Instead, many turned to unreliable resources for information, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The Maputo Protocol has been ratified by Benin, Burkina Faso, Cte dIvoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe; African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), OAU Doc. The ACRWC has been ratified by Benin, Burkina Faso, Cte dIvoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique , Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. [21] WHO, Mental Health in the Western Pacific, undated, https://www.who.int/westernpacific/health-topics/mental-health (accessed June 17, 2020). States also range in the number of providers needed to fill shortages. International human rights law guarantees to persons with disabilities the right to liberty on an equal basis with others. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. Res. 74(e). This system effectively gives mental health the same importance as all other indicators and ensures that community health workers provide immediate and ongoing mental health services to meet their target of 100 percent coverage. Mental healthcare is especially difficult due to lingering social stigmas and scarcity of services. CHEYENNE - Health care advocates told legislators Friday that a lack of mental health resources, such as emergency centers, infrastructure, staff and funding has caused crisis care gaps in Wyoming. Yet, there are very few mental health professionals, especially for the majority of the population who rely on the public health system. 69 (1988), signed November 17, 1988. The term psychosocial disability describes conditions commonly referred toparticularly by mental health professionals and mediaas mental illness or mental disorders. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes that disability is an evolving concept and that it results from the interaction between people with impairments and social, cultural, attitudinal, and environmental barriers that prevent their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. [29] Human Rights Watch research in over 25 countries around the world has found that people with mental health conditions can face a range of abuses including arbitrary detention, involuntary treatment, including electroconvulsive therapy, forced seclusion as well as physical and sexual violence in psychiatric hospitals. [144] The CRPD has been ratified by 181 countries around the world. 3, entered into force January 3, 1976, art. Many of MSFs ambulance calls in recent months have been related to respiratory diseases. 2. In prayer camps and institutions in some countries, many interviewees spoke of persistent, gnawing hunger from forced fasting or inadequate food, and many looked emaciated. 25, 27, 52; I Needed Help, Instead I Was Punished: Abuse and Neglect of Prisoners with Disabilities in Australia, February 2018, https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/02/06/i-needed-help-instead-i-was-punished/abuse-and-neglect-prisoners-disabilities; Living in Hell: Abuses against People with Psychosocial Disabilities in Indonesia, March 2016, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/indonesia0316web.pdf, pp. (No. [8] World Health Organization (WHO), Gender and Women's Mental Health, undated, https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/ (accessed July 21, 2020); WHO, Mental disorders, November 28, 2019, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders (accessed June 22, 2020); WHO, Mental health in the workplace, May 2019, https://www.who.int/mental_health/in_the_workplace/en/ (accessed June 22, 2020); WHO, Mental Health, October 2, 2019, https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/mental-health (accessed June 22, 2020). There are currently 10 Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinics nationwide. In Guatemala, for instance, rising temperatures and long droughts are reducing returns from coffee, corn and sugarcane farms. In the worst of cases, depression can lead to suicide - an estimated 63,000 people kill themselves every year in the Americas. Accessibility means that health services should be affordable, situated within easy physical reach, and be offered to everyone without discrimination. res. Very few governments collect data on this practice at a country-level as it often occurs in remote areas, and families are reluctant to speak about shackled relatives. In Morocco, the government released over 700 people chained in one shrine alone, about 50 kilometers from Marrakesh in the countrys southwest. They feel youre possessed and put liquid down your nose to drive out the devil. In Somalia, Islamic faith healers are called sheikhs, an honorific title given to an Islamic scholar or elder. UNHRC, Follow up report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on his follow-up visit to the Republic of Ghana, Session 31, A/HRC/31/57/Add.2, February 25, 2015, People with Mental Health Conditions Living in Chains, https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/06/04/better-make-yourself-invisible/family-violence-against-people-disabilities-mexico, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/11/11/nigeria-people-mental-health-conditions-chained-abused, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/kazakhstan0319_web3.pdf, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/iran0618_web_1.pdf, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/somaliland1015_forupload_0.pdf, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/india1214.pdf, https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/928917.shtml, http://www.bjnews.com.cn/feature/2013/07/11/272800.html, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2021288/mentally-ill-chinese-girl-8-roped-tree-outside-grandparents, https://www.hrw.org/report/2012/10/02/death-sentence/abuses-against-persons-mental-disabilities-ghana, https://www.pih.org/article/celebrating-new-possibilities-sierra-leones-only-psychiatric-hospital, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/31/57/Add.2,para. Evidence is emerging in Indonesia of a serious rise in mental health problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the crisis has revealed the urgent need for investment in the area, Sudirman Nasir writes. At UVG, Cbar Cataln coordinates the delivery of psychological services in the universitys community clinic to trauma survivors, people who are unemployed and people whose family members have migrated north. Top photo: A young boy in El Salvador, where children face multiple threats to their safety and well-being including gang violence. To that end, Garca Rivera works with the Liberation Psychology Intercambio/Exchange, a knowledge exchange program that connects psychologists, therapists, social workers and immigration lawyers from the United States and Central America to engage with psychological theories and practices originating in Latin America. While the use of restraints can be seen as a spectrum, this report specifically examines the practice of shackling, the most egregious, archaic, and rudimentary form of physical restraints practiced predominantly in non-medical settings. As a result, documenting shackling cases is extremely challenging.