Human rights of people with mental illness diagnosis: perceptions among service users, family members and health professionals in Tunisia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayssa Rekhis ◽  
Sami Ouanes ◽  
Abir Ben Hamouda ◽  
Rym Rafrafi

Purpose This study aims to assess the awareness about the rights of people with mental illness in the main psychiatric hospital in Tunisia among the service users, the family members and the staff. Design/methodology/approach The Convention of Rights of People with Disabilities mandates that State Parties initiate and maintain campaigns and human rights training to promote understanding of the rights of people with mental illnesses, considered as a main factor for their fulfillment. Service users, family members and staff evaluated, through a survey, the importance of ten rights for persons with mental illness, stated in the convention. Findings Disparities were found in the perception of the different rights by and between the three groups. The highest levels of awareness were associated with the freedom from torture or degrading treatment and the right to live with dignity and respect, whereas the lower importance were assigned to the right to participation in recovery plans, to give consent and to exercise legal capacity. Originality/value The lack of awareness and the poor perception of rights of people with mental illness is one of the barriers to their achievement. More training and awareness raising is necessary.

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-265
Author(s):  
Alessandra Spadaro

AbstractThis article analyses the decisions of Belgian and Dutch courts concerning the repatriation of the family members of foreign fighters who are now detained in dire conditions in North-East Syria. The article shows that, under international law, these women and children have no individual right to be repatriated by their State of nationality, based on either consular assistance, the extraterritorial applicability of human rights treaties, or the right of return to one's own country. Nonetheless there are good reasons why States should exercise their prerogative to repatriate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-345
Author(s):  
Thibault Weigelt ◽  
Erica Sharma

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the budget of the Indian family planning programme from a human rights perspective. Family planning services play an important role in the realisation of the reproductive rights of women. In India, the family planning programme is one of the largest in the world with thousands of patients, mostly women, accessing services every year. Although the Indian legal system guarantees the right to health, Indian women from marginalised sections of society still battle inadequate services and the absence of health care that respects their right to reproductive autonomy and choice. Therefore, the question is: in the presence of a strong legal framework, what are the factors that contribute to this phenomenon? Design/methodology/approach The authors have gathered data from the project implementation plans at the state level comparing year-wise expenditure for family planning against overall expenditure for reproductive, maternal and child health expenditure. The data are then compared to the number of women using sterilisation to suggest a relationship between both. Finally, the article relies on desk research to review scholarship on the Indian family planning programme and applicable human rights obligations. Findings The paper finds that social-economic rights such as the right to health are applicable to government spending and budgeting. It also finds current spending in the NHM is insufficient to guarantee women’s reproductive rights as the vast majority of resources are spend on sterilisation, thus limiting women’s ability to choose the number and spacing of children. Research limitations/implications The data used in this research bears one limitation: the propensity of the government to change the guidelines as to how States should present their budgets in the project implementation plans. The authors have adjusted the data so that it remains comparable. However, the adjustment was not possible for all expenditure data, which is why the current study is limited to the family planning programme alone. Practical implications The paper argues that to be human rights compliant, health budgets of the NHM need to be geared towards the specific needs of women in terms of family planning. Finally, the article briefly outlines the role played by human rights and human rights litigation in impacting government budgets. Originality/value India’s family planning programme has been examined from a performance and medical standpoint, focussing on medical indicators such as total fertility rate, unmet needs for family planning, amongst others. Academic scholarship has investigated through statistical analysis patterns of contraceptive use and contraceptive mix. What is absent, however, is an assessment of the programme from a right-based perspective by looking at the human rights obligations of India and their normative implications for the Indian family programme.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Increase Ibukun Adeosun ◽  
Abosede Adekeji Adegbohun ◽  
Oyetayo Oyewunmi Jeje ◽  
Tomilola Adejoke Adewumi

Purpose – The label of schizophrenia attracts a high level of stigma; consequently, people with schizophrenia are victims of unfair treatment and have limited access to decent livelihood and basic opportunities. However, most studies on stigma have overlooked the experiences of patients with schizophrenia. The purpose of this paper is to assess the experience of discrimination by patients with schizophrenia in Lagos, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – A descriptive cross-sectional study. Out-patients with schizophrenia (n=150) were interviewed with the Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC 12) at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Findings – The majority of the respondents (86.7 per cent) had been avoided by people who knew they had schizophrenia. Unfair treatment was experienced by 71.3 per cent from family members, 62.7 per cent from friends, 32 per cent in social life and 28.7 per cent in intimate relationships, and 38.7 per cent in personal safety. The most commonly reported unfair treatment was inappropriate physical restraint (e.g. chains and ropes) applied by family members and beating. About eight out of ten (79.3 per cent) respondents concealed their illness. Originality/value – The findings indicate that people with schizophrenia in Nigeria experience high levels of discrimination, some of which contravenes their basic human rights. The unfair treatment experienced within the family context excludes people with schizophrenia from engaging in basic social relationships, education and the pursuit of life opportunities. Legislations should be reviewed to protect patients from unfair treatment and violation of their human rights. There is also need to equip them with strategies to cope with stigma.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peace Njideka Iheanacho ◽  
Chisom Joy Mbadugha ◽  
Chinenye Juliet Anetekhai ◽  
Chinenye Ifeoma Ubah ◽  
Adaobi Lilian Obiekwu ◽  
...  

Purpose Human right is a phenomenon universal to all but greatly significant for disadvantaged groups like people with mental illness who due to the limitations of their illness cannot assert their rights. This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of nursing students regarding the human rights of people with mental illness. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive study was conducted among 72 nursing students purposively selected from two nursing schools in Enugu, Nigeria. Data were collected using a 38 item literature-based questionnaire developed by the researchers. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach’s alpha model with 0.812 coefficients. Findings Participants 32 (44.4%) demonstrated moderate knowledge regarding the human rights of people with mental illness. The attitude of nursing students towards the right of people with mental illness was positive (2.81). There is no significant difference in knowledge between students of the two schools, p = 0.199 (>0.05). However, the study showed that students from basic nursing school had a more favourable attitude towards the rights of people with mental illness compared to the post-basic nursing students, p = 0.050 (<0.05). Originality/value The rising incidence of human right violation in mental health practice indicates the need to assess the knowledge and attitude of the future workforce who play a critical role in the care and management of people with mental illness. The nursing curriculum should provide nursing students in their various institutions of training, sufficient information on the human rights of people with mental illness. Also, a legal structure in Nigeria for people with mental illness is imperative to protect them from gross human rights violations.


Author(s):  
Janne Rothmar Herrmann

This chapter discusses the right to avoid procreation and the regulation of pregnancy from a European perspective. The legal basis for a right to avoid procreation can be said to fall within the scope of several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), an instrument that is binding for all European countries. Here, Article 12 of the ECHR gives men and women of marriageable age the right to marry and found a family in accordance with the national laws governing this right. However, Article 12 protects some elements of the right not to procreate, but for couples only. The lack of common European consensus in this area highlights how matters relating to the right to decide on the number and spacing of children touch on aspects that differ from country to country even in what could appear to be a homogenous region. In fact, the cultural, moral, and historical milieus that surround these rights differ considerably with diverse national perceptions of the role of the family, gender equality, religious and moral obligations, and so on.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Schmidts ◽  
Deborah Shepherd

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use social identity theory to explore factors that contribute to the development of family social capital. Effects are investigated both for the family and the business. Design/methodology/approach – A single in-depth case study focussing on the family unit was coducted within a fourth-generation family business involved in the arts retailing. Findings – The findings suggest that social identity theory is a useful lens to explore the development of family social capital. The six themes identified highlight that there is a normative and an affective dimension, leading to family members’ desire to uphold the status of the business. Evidence suggests that the normative factors may be both positively and negatively related to the development of family social capital, due to their potentially restrictive nature. Originality/value – The paper’s findings imply that social identity can contribute to understanding family dynamics. Evidence highlights various factors for family members that are not involved in the family business to uphold its status. This is attributed to the emotional significance of the business to the family’s identity. Furthermore, this paper suggests that the strong focus on norms and values, which developed gradually, may have adverse effects on the identification with the business and the willingness to uphold its status. Propositions are offered to provide guidance for future research to investigate this controversial evidence regarding the impact of value orientation on family social capital.


AJIL Unbound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 317-321
Author(s):  
Guofu Liu

The COVID-19 pandemic is having serious and disproportionate effects on nationals abroad and their families globally. Many states have adopted positive measures including temporarily suspending forced returns as well providing visa and work permit extensions, temporary residence, or other forms of regular status to ensure that migrants are accounted for in national responses to the pandemic. Nevertheless, the human rights of nationals abroad and nationals with foreign family members have faced significant challenges. Some states have fully or partially closed entry to all of their own nationals and their foreign family members, in violation of nationals’ right to return and their right of family unification. Other states’ nationals abroad have been unable to enjoy the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to health. Many have also encountered the burdens of hate speech in both their home states and the states in which they live, the effect of which has been to undermine freedom of opinion and expression and the right to equality and non-discrimination. This essay identifies and explains these threats to human rights in the era of COVID-19. The essay encourages states to recommit to rights protection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditi Rana

Mental illness is a growing reality of our times. Usually in a typical Indian family, the parents act as the primary caregivers for the child suffering from mental disorder. For adult sufferers, it can also be siblings or offspring, and  at times even spouse or partner. Research on the experiences of families of mentally ill people has been minimal in the Indian context. This study aims to shift the focus from the mentally ill patients to the suffering of the caregivers and families of the patient keeping in mind the interconnected well being of the family in a collectivist culture. Following a qualitative approach, narratives have been taken from the family members of mentally ill (narratives of 8 families with mentally ill person) and also the mental health professionals (two) through semi structured interviews. The findings suggest that the family members suffer from a significant amount of stress accompanied by burden. Also, they feel secluded from the society and experience a lack of assistance to deal with the mentally ill member of the family.


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