From The Guardian: “Human Rights Watch says that men, women and children – some as young as 10 – are regularly shackled or locked in confined spaces for weeks, months, and even years, across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.
The report, Living in Chains: Shackling of People with Psychosocial Disabilities Worldwide, examines how people with mental health conditions are often shackled against their will by families in their own homes or in overcrowded and unsanitary institutions because of widespread stigma and a lack of mental health services.
Many of those affected are forced to eat, sleep, urinate and defecate in the same tiny area. In state-run or private institutions, as well as traditional or religious healing centres, they are shackled for restraint or punishment and often forced to fast, take medications or herbal concoctions and face physical and sexual violence.”