Category: Content type

‘Urgently close Topház’ – says the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

in Article, Hungary, My Home, My Choice

18 February 2020, Budapest. Last week the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) published its Concluding Observations for Hungary. In November 2018, the CRC Committee requested the Hungarian Government to submit information on how Hungary has progressed on implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Child to which the…
Czechia: Validity and Forum for Human Rights call for abolition of “netted cage beds”

in Article, Czech Republic, My Home, My Choice

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 human rights law. Read the full…
Moldova: Doctor guilty of raping 18 women, compensation ordered

in Article, Moldova, My Home, My Choice

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. Following 6 years of litigation,…
Romania: Justice denied for Ştefan Stoian after a decade of legal action

in Article, Campaigns, Content type, Countries, Romania, Schools For All

Earlier this week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Ştefan Stoian, a young man with quadriplegia, who took a case against Romania for denial of his right to education. The disappointing verdict came after almost a decade of legal action to secure the supports he needs to participate in mainstream schools. The judgment…
Czech Republic rolls back on inclusive education for children with disabilities

in Article, Czech Republic, Schools For All, Uncategorised

Validity is concerned that the Czech Republic is rolling back on its commitments to ensure inclusive education for children with disabilities in the country. This week, the Minister of Education signed a regulatory amendment reducing the support made available for children with special educational needs to receive a quality education in mainstream schools. The amendment…
Validity condemns exclusion of teenager from his school in Bosnia and Herzegovina

in Article, Bosnia Herzegovina, Schools For All

Slavko Mrsevic has Asperger’s syndrome – a highly functional form of disability from the autism spectrum. Slavko attended an inclusive elementary school for nine years and made strong friendships. In 2015, he moved, with his friends, to secondary school with clear recommendations for accommodations to ensure he can get the educational support he needs. Numerous…
Statement in Solidarity with Zambian Activists Calling for Amendment of Mental Health Bill

in Article, Campaigns, Content type, Countries, I’m A Person, My Home, My Choice, Press Release, Zambia

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, and access community-based services. In…
European Disability Movement Demands Council of Europe #WithdrawOviedo on World Mental Health Day

in Article, Campaigns, Content type, I’m A Person, My Home, My Choice

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 proposed treaty on “persons with mental disorders” which has been under…
Validity challenges Russia at European Court after Constitutional Court refuses to allow people with disabilities to visit their families

in Article, I’m A Person, My Home, My Choice, Russia, Uncategorised

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 leaving the institution to visit her father at his…
Mental health law proposal in Uganda will breach human rights, says civil society coalition

in Article, Campaigns, Content type, Countries, I’m A Person, My Home, My Choice, Uganda

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 in Parliament next Tuesday says that the law “does…