Ghana: People With Mental Disabilities Face Serious Abuse

People with mental disabilities suffer severe abuses in psychiatric institutions and spiritual healing centers in Ghana, Human Rights Watch said in a report. The Ghanaian government has done little to combat such abuse or to ensure that these people can live in the community, as is their right under international law.

The 84-page report, based on more than 170 interviews with people of different situations, describes how thousands of people with mental disabilities are forced to live in these institutions, often against their will and with little possibility of challenging their confinement. In psychiatric hospitals, people with mental disabilities face overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, face stigma and discrimination and often lack adequate shelter, food, and healthcare. People who are institutionalized in prayer camps, the prophets seek to “cure” residents through miracles, consultation with “angels,” and spiritual healing.

“The government needs to take immediate steps to end abuses against people with mental disabilities in institutions, prayer camps, and the community,” said Medi Ssengooba, Finberg fellow at Human Rights Watch. “The conditions in which many people with mental disabilities live in Ghana are inhuman and degrading.”

Under this convention, countries must undertake steps to ensure that people with mental disabilities can make important life decisions for themselves.
The government should create community-based support services, including housing and healthcare. The government should also ensure that people are not forcefully detained in these facilities or in psychiatric hospitals and that they have access to mechanisms to challenge any violations of their rights.

In my country the situation is different, but I’m not sure about that and how these psychiatric centers are organized. I’ve never been in one of those, but I hope it’s different from this country and that the government enforces laws in these centers.

I’m not sure about myself to do something to change the situation, because I have no experience in almost anything about this world of human rights, but I’m sure that I could do something if someone wants that I help him/her.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/31/ghana-people-mental-disabilities-face-serious-abuse