In December, Validity and Forum for Human Rights filed an international complaint against the use of netted cage beds in psychiatric hospitals in the Czech Republic. The case, which was filed at the European Committee of Social Rights, tackles the ongoing use of this practice which conflicts with international… Read More
Eighteen women who were systematically sexually abused by their doctor at the Balti institution for a period of almost a decade in Moldova have finally achieved justice. Earlier this month, the Moldovan Supreme Court pronounced judgment in one of the most grievous cases of gender-based violence Validity has come across. Read More
All children have the right to family life, yet children with disabilities are disproportionately deprived of this right. The reasons are multiple, including the lack of practical and financial support to families with children with disabilities, governments failing to invest in community-based services, and a strong push by professionals to… Read More
Georgi Tsenov spent most of his life in horrible conditions in an institution, fighting to be able to make choices about his own life. Now he has finally achieved recognition by the State for the ill-treatment he suffered over decades. Sofia City Court affirmed that the guardianship authority caused him… Read More
Validity expresses our deepest concern about the ill-treatment of residents of an institution for persons with disabilities in Mozsgó, which was recently reported by the Hungarian Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. The Commissioner investigated following a complaint from the… Read More
Mental health law reform in Zambia is desperately overdue. The outdated Mental Disorders Act [Chapter 305 of the Laws of Zambia] perpetuates discrimination, human rights violations, and abuses against persons with mental disabilities. It denies mental health care users the rights to live with dignity, make decisions about their care,… Read More
Validity has joined a coalition of European organisations for persons with disabilities to demand that the Council of Europe withdraws a dangerous proposal to legalise forced detention and treatment of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in breach of international human rights law. A… Read More
In a disappointing decision issued last week, the Russian Constitutional Court rejected the right of a woman in a social care institution to visit her father. The two had brought the case complaining that the social care institution where the daughter resides unconstitutionally prevented her from… Read More
A coalition of organisations have today called on Ugandan Members of Parliament to oppose a Government-sponsored Mental Health Bill which will breach the human rights of persons with mental disabilities in the country. A position statement issued by the coalition in advance of a critical debate… Read More
The United Nations Committee against Torture has expressed concern about the continued restraint of people with mental disabilities in so-called ‘net beds’ in Czech psychiatric facilities. The comments came following a wide-ranging review of the country’s progress in stamping out torture by the UN’s top expert… Read More
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has expressed concern about widespread human rights violations against persons with disabilities in Hungary. The Committee, which is the UN’s authoritative body overseeing global implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), noted that large number of… Read More
The Hungarian Data Protection Authority has found that Validity did not breach data protection and privacy rules when it visited the Topház social care institution and published its report exposing ill-treatment and neglect against residents of the institution. (Click here for Hungarian.)… Read More