#MHForAll webinar: Mental Health & Human Rights
On Tuesday 13th December, 2022, our #MHForAll webinar series brought together a panel of experts to discuss the importance of mental health laws, policies and programs being in line with international human rights instruments. Our panel included:
Claudia Braga - Mental Health Expert, Public Prosecution Office, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Chair)
Michael Njenga, Regional Mental Health Advisor - Africa, CBM Global Mental Health, Kenya
Benjamin Ballah - CFUH, Liberia
Melanie Picolo - PATH, Mozambique
Dr Zeenat Sultana - Bangladesh CCP, Bangladesh
Christian Guzman - Coordinator, Invisible Borders/CARE Peru, Peru
Replay the session:
Session notes
The panellists agreed that there is still much to be done to improve the quality of rights and services worldwide. “Human rights violations are still a reality, and it is our goal to change this reality,” says session chair, Claudia Braga. The newly launched QualityRights e-training, developed by WHO, is one resource available to help change attitudes and transform mental health care.
Available in 11 languages, this training is designed to tackle issues of stigma and discrimination and promote community inclusion for people with psychosocial disabilities across the world.
“Human rights violations are still a reality, and it is our goal to change this reality”
Benjamin Ballah of Cultivation for User's Hope explains that even though policy documents and bills are being developed to protect people with mental health conditions, the issue of stigma and discrimination is still prevalent at a community level.
Liberians experience three forms of stigma: structural, public, and self-stigma; “Article 25 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) talks about health for all, where persons with disabilities should not be discriminated against or restricted from going to certain health facilities, but we see that commonly in Liberia.”
Support, services, and medication are unavailable to vulnerable groups as a result of structural stigma which feed into systemised discrimination and deeper issues of self-inflicted stigma. To address this, Benjamin suggests that governments should be held accountable to the policies and bills that they are signing off on and must ensure that meaningful action follows.
Issues to do with social and religious stigma make reporting on suicide rates difficult in Bangladesh where suicide is still illegal. People attempting to commit suicide are punished and would face imprisonment, fines or both. Dr Zeenat Sultana of Bangladesh CCP explains that the criminalisation of suicide “creates a barrier to rights-based legislation.”
Suicide cases are underreported and as a result there aren’t sufficient support systems in place for the people that need them, “this all impacts the rights of persons in a negative manner.” Dr Zeenat highlights the need for a dedicated national suicide prevention strategy in Bangladesh to tackle this issue, coupled with awareness-raising and the development of a community-based support systems.
“Criminalisation of suicide creates a barrier to rights-based legislation.”
In Peru, over 200 community mental health centres have been developed for persons with mental health disorders and psychosocial disabilities, however, these centres focus on providing clinical services, which has its own limitations. Governments must ensure that training on “human mobility… gender equality, MHPSS and humanitarian services” is provided as part of the induction process for any new service providers, says Christian Guzman of CARE Peru.
There is also a need to implement a community mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) strategy, which can strengthen community resilience and promote community leadership in order to effectively safeguard the rights of migrants and refugees and encourage the participation of people with lived experience (PWLE).
“Human mobility, gender equality, MHPSS and humanitarian services is provided as part of the induction process for any new service providers”
“It is critical to ensure the meaningful participation of PWLE in line with the CRPD,” says Michael Njenga of CBM Global, as well as respecting the personal dignity and autonomy of persons with psychosocial disabilities.
PWLE should be able to contribute to law reform processes, but these processes can often create power imbalances and result in further barriers to the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities, warns Michael. Pilot programs should be developed to investigate and showcase how this can be achieved and translate the existing legislation into real, culturally-relevant practices.
Michael highlights that the WHO and Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights are developing a set of key indicators and tools that can measure a nation’s compliance with international human rights standards.
This is especially important as countries and governments seek to reform their legislation, policy and programs on mental health in line with international human rights instruments and look to end coercion, encourage participation of PWLE and develop support services for vulnerable groups.