In advance of the House of Commons debate on the abuse of autistic people and people with learning disabilities in in-patient settings, we produced a briefing to help inform the discussion.
A lack of appropriate community support means too many autistic people and people with learning disabilities are kept in unsuitable secure mental health hospitals.
Keeping people in secure hospitals inappropriately, when there is no therapeutic benefit, could in some circumstances be a violation of their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, such as Article 5 (right to liberty and security) and Article 8 (right to a private, family life). Physical, sexual and mental abuse suffered by those in in-patient care are further breaches of these rights.
In our advice on the draft Mental Health Bill, we made a series of recommendations to help address this issue.
The above information is from News from the Equality and Human Rights Commission Newsletter Fri 28/04/2023