HRW wants an end to forced institutional care for mentally ill

NEW DELHI: Women admitted to government institutions and mental hospitals suffer grave abuses like physical and sexual violence and involuntary treatment such as electroshock therapy, a report has revealed.

The report by Human Rights Watch ( HRW) titled 'Treated Worse than animals : Abuses against Women and Girls with Psychosocial or Intellectual Disabilities in Institutions in India' released today called upon the government to take prompt steps to shift such people with disabilities from forced institutional care to voluntary community-based services.

The researchers said that Union Ministry of Health, Social Justice and Empowerment and the National Trust should no longer provide funding for building new institutions or major refurbishments for existing institutions.

"Make running, funding and providing access to community based services for persons with disabilities a top priority," said Kriti Sharma, researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

As per the HRW report, in 24 institutions and hospitals which researchers visited in 2013, there were no adequate mechanisms to report abuse.

The only existing mechanism was to report to institution staff which does not contitute an independent mechanism as staff themselves may be perpetrators of abuse.

Also, the dearth of mental health services is particularly striking in rural areas where 72 per cent of population lives but only 25 per cent of the health infrastructure is located resulting in a severe treatment gap.

Although the government launched the National Mental Health Programe in 1982 to provide community based service its reach is limited and implementation is seriously flawed in the absence of moniroting mechanism.