It’s 2015. Today, women with psychological illnesses across progressive Indian cities are being subjected to treatment that’s downright dehumanizing. In a shocking report, provocatively titled ‘ Treated Worse than Animals ’, the Human Rights Watch organisation has uncovered graphic details of alienating treatment dished out to Indian women with mental illnesses.
This video, released by the NGO in late 2014 summarises the findings of the 112-page report linked above.
As described in the video above, most girls and women have no choice about living in these ‘hospitals’. Further investigations have uncovered glaring loopholes in the system that deny judicial access and effective reporting mechanisms to female patients with intellectual disabilities. In fact, the law says that it is better for other people to make choices for them. This may be a difficult position to justify, but authorities have argued that women with these disabilities are incapable of the mental fortitude required for judiciary.
The Human Rights Watch, along with a handful of Indian NGOs has issued several recommendations for Government interventions. You can read these recommendations here .
Featured image courtesy: Human Rights Watch.