Under this campaign, we call for recognition of equal citizenship of people with mental disabilities, including their right to make decisions about their own lives. Too often, people with mental disabilities are labelled as “incompetent” or are denied the right to decide by punitive guardianship systems. They may be denied the right to vote, to marry, to manage their own money, and even to decide where to live. Instead of systems based on restriction and control, we push governments to provide support to people to make their own decision – so that they can be the authors of their own lives.
The Supreme Court of Zambia has handed down a judgment ruling against a petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 4 of the Zambian Mental Health Act 2019. While applauding the petitioners, Sylvester Katontonka of the Mental Health Users’ Network of Zambia (MHUNZA) and Wamundila Waliuya… Read More
We, the undersigned, acknowledge and applaud the European Parliament’s Committee for Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Committees on Budgets (BUDG) for their pivotal vote on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the Ukraine Facility, which took place on… Read More
Validity and the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) have published a joint submission to the European Commission in response to the redraft of the Victims’ Rights Directive. Our work and research over many years have shown how victims with disabilities are all but invisible in the justice system –… Read More
3rd of October, 14:00 – 15:30 on Zoom. Register here For an easy-to-read version of the text, please click here. Our Right, Our Vote! Legal action to dismantle barriers to political participation for persons with disabilities… Read More
The following is an open letter on behalf of the Validity Foundation to the Government of Romania and international bodies concerning recent events in Romania (list of recipients below). On 4 July 2023, the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (Direcția de Investigare a Infracțiunilor de Criminalitate Organizată… Read More
On 15 March 2023, the Human Rights Committee, the United Nations body that monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its States parties, issued a decision, so-called views, in communication No. 3171/2018 and condemned Bulgaria for violating the… Read More
Victims with disabilities face almost insurmountable barriers blocking their access to criminal justice in Europe. They are denied their right to be heard, to tell their story, to give evidence, to seek effective remedies, to understand their rights and the proceedings: “…throughout the whole pre-trial phase the victim was neither… Read More
We are delighted to announce the release of this new film, featuring Validity client István Cservenka as part of Validity’s 2022 seasonal appeal – full film below. Forced to endure decades of institutionalisation simply for having a disability in Hungary, the team at Validity have been proud to… Read More
The justice system and its symbols are scary. In most places, courts are not about justice, they are about power. For anyone, facing these symbols of power is disabling. Start with thinking about de-focusing the power; the focus should be on justice. It is really about the humanisation of the… Read More
On 22 November, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in G.M. and others v. the Republic of Moldova, a case represented by a Moldovan lawyer Violeta Gaşiţoi, which Validity supported as an amicus curiae. The Court found… Read More
The justice system is confusing and intimidating for many victims of crime, but victims with disabilities face almost insurmountable barriers. Research conducted by the Voices for Justice project in 7 EU countries, and brought together in the ‘Humanising Justice’ report published in 2022, found… Read More
A psychiatric hospital in Opava, Czechia, kept a young woman in mechanical restraint for over 12-years. The story was exposed by a Czech human rights activist, supported by Validity, who managed to obtain reports of monitoring visits in 2018… Read More