3 December 2013

Becoming a human rights activist

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, here are my top ten advocacy tips. I shared these with graduating students of an international diploma on mental health and human rights a few weeks ago in India.
12 November 2013

Abandoned with bedbugs in West Bengal

“My father brought me here 16 years ago”, said Sanjaya, a 29-year old woman, in Bengali. Her family appear to have freaked out when, at the age of 13, she started having mental health problems. Instead of getting some support, they dumped her into the Lumbini Park institution, where she was robbed of her youth, her education, and her safety. Detained there for the past 16 years without committing any crime, she was allowed out for a day two years ago. She returned to her family who had abandoned her. “I went and cried. I wanted to stay, but my family didn’t want me”, she told me.

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