Senada Halilčević, President of the European Platform of Self-Advocates (EPSA) and Inclusion Europe Vice-President, a survivor of institutionalisation, raised the plight of the 1.2 million people across Europe who are deprived of the fundamental human right to choose where and with whom to live and to be included in the community and still live in institutions, hidden from the rest of the society at a meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Tuesday the 19th of April 2016.
“Keeping people in institutions is a human rights violation. Residents of an institution do not have any privacy or personal space and cannot make their own decisions. They do not have the freedom to make day-to-day choices, such as when and what to eat, when to sleep or with whom to spend their time.”
“Deinstitutionalisation is a necessary step in fighting the segregation of persons with disabilities, but it is only the first step to ensure their inclusion in the community”…
Find out more about the representations Senada, the European Platform of Self-Advocates (EPSA) and Inclusion Europe made here.