Category: Countries
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Committee of Ministers calls on Hungary to implement Validity Foundation on behalf of T.J. v. Hungary judgment of the European Court
In October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a groundbreaking judgment against Hungary. It found that Hungary had violated the right to life of a woman with disabilities who had lived for a long term locked in the notorious Topház institution – one of many across the country where over an estimated 22,000…
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Validity presents the experiences of victims and survivors of torture to the UN
On 22 September 2025, Validity sent a written submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in response to the call for input on experiences and perspectives of victims and survivors of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Our submission will…
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Zambia’s Historic First: Legal capacity Communication submitted to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
On 21 August 2025, The Validity Foundation, together with the Mental Health Users Network of Zambia (MHUNZA) and Disability Rights Watch (DRW) with the technical support of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), have submitted a landmark communication to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission).…
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Access to justice and to an effective remedy are crucial for children with disabilities
Without access to justice and to an effective remedy children with disabilities are often forgotten about, institutionalised and ill-treated. In the case of V.I. v. The Republic of Moldova, Validity convincingly argued before the European Court of Human Rights that the denial of access to justice for children with disabilities is rarely an individual violation…
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Validity Contributes to ACERWC Special Rapporteur’s forthcoming Guidance Note to State parties to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
On 10 June 2025, Validity submitted a written submission to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) in response to the Call for Submissions by ACERWC Special Rapporteur on Birth Registration, Name and Nationality in Africa. The submission highlights key challenges and opportunities related to the digitalisation of…
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Woman with Lived Experience of Institutionalisation Wins Landmark Case Against Psychiatric Hospital in Bulgaria
On 23 April 2025, a district court in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, awarded substantial damages to Tanya Petkova, a woman with psychosocial disabilities, for repeated periods of psychiatric detention and coercive practices violating her dignity and autonomy and for the trauma inflicted upon her. The decision is a rare judicial acknowledgment of the impacts of intersecting…
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Landmark Appeal Filed in SGBV Case Involving Woman with Psychosocial Disability in Uganda
On 12 May 2025, the Validity Foundation, together with our Ugandan partner, the Women’s Probono Initiative (WPI), filed submissions before the Court of Appeal in Kampala in a precedent-setting case concerning sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women with psychosocial disabilities. The Appellant, a woman with a psychosocial disability, was sexually assaulted by a private…
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Landmark Ruling: European Court Finds Moldova failed to Protect Woman with Disabilities from Servitude
First-ever European Court decision on servitude of persons with disabilities reveals systemic failures in Moldova’s deinstitutionalisation practices The European Court of Human Rights has delivered a groundbreaking judgment concerning the right of a woman with disabilities not to be held in servitude and forced labour. The Court found that Moldova had violated the rights of…
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Awaiting the conversations that will begin anew: Reflections on My Internship at the Validity Foundation (by Kim Woonyoung)
I have reached the end of a precious year spent with the Validity Foundation. This piece is a brief record of the activities I participated in and the moments I witnessed during this short yet eventful year at Validity. It is also an attempt to reflect on what this experience meant to me as a…
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Topház: European Court of Human Rights finds Hungary failed to protect right to life of residents, must investigate links between death and disability
In a ground-breaking judgment today, the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) condemned Hungary for failing to protect the lives of institutionalised persons with disabilities. States must effectively investigate the context and conditions in which people in institutions die, the Court also said. The judgment sends a strong message against institutionalisation and guardianship regimes…