From Mad in Ireland: Mad in Ireland editors Martha Griffin and Jennifer Hough spoke at the recent Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights mental health conference at University College Cork. Their joint presentation was titled: Beyond the Current Paradigm: What Human Rights Really Means in Mental Health Law and was in response to the rowing back of human rights protections contained with the current mental health bill.
Ms Griffin said: “I am employed from the knowledge borne of pain and challenges. I thought we would be much further developed in terms of human rights and mental health than where we are currently. The proposed mental health bill is not in line with UNCRPD and is moving further away as the amendments are made.” Quoting UN Special Rapporteur Dainius Pūras, Ms Griffin said “Mental health policies and services are in crisis – not a crisis of chemical imbalances, but of power imbalances…We need little short of a revolution in mental health care to end decades of neglect, abuse and violence.”
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