The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the first highest international legally-binding standard which aims to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, including those with mental health conditions, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. The CRPD embodies a ‘paradigm shift’, from the charitable and the medical approaches to disability to one, which is firmly rooted in human rights. It provides a clear path towards non-discrimination, full and effective participation and inclusion in society, respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity, equality of opportunity and accessibility just to name a few.

States which have signed the CRPD have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the internationally agreed upon set of standards guaranteed to all people included in the Convention. However, even in signatory states, violations often occur behind “closed or open doors” and go unreported and consequently unprevented. The growing number of people with mental health conditions in the world has further contributed to a level of attention paid to quality and human rights conditions in both outpatient and inpatient facilities, which has never been greater. Persons with mental health conditions need both de jure human rights protection and de facto human rights practices.

Seven years after the CRPD came into force the care available in many mental health facilities around Europe is still not only of poor quality but in many instances hinders recovery. The level of knowledge and understanding by staff of the rights of people with mental disabilities is very poor. It is still common for people to be locked away or to be chained to their beds, unable to move. Inhuman and degrading treatment is common, and people in facilities are often stripped of their dignity and treated with contempt. Violations are not restricted to inpatient and residential facilities; many people seeking care from outpatient and community care services are disempowered and also experience extensive restrictions to their basic human rights.

In the wider community, many people with mental disabilities are still denied many basic rights that most people take for granted. For example, they are denied opportunities to live where they choose, marry, have families, attend school and seek employment. There is a commonly held, yet false, assumption that people with mental health conditions lack the capacity to assume responsibility, manage their affairs and make decisions about their lives. These misconceptions contribute to the ongoing marginalization, disenfranchisement and invisibility of this group of people in their communities.

One of the underlying reasons it is difficult to move through the obstacles to fully embrace the CRPD, is that discrimination continues to affect people with mental health conditions on many levels. Changing laws is only a partial solution. We have to change the ways that we relate to each other at every level, and to offer people information and tools to make the transition to a more equitable social reality.