Stop cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment in health-care settings

Common yet serious and oft-overlooked human rights abuses occur in health care settings, such as clinics, hospitals or treatment centers. These malpractices either occur by action or by omission. Examples are: forced and / or coerced sterilisation, the denial of pain relief or the non-accessibility of palliative care, or detention of drug users and others as a form of treatment. These practices have been found to amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, or even torture.

These abuses are putting the lie to the belief that medical engagement in serious ill treatment primarily or only takes place in prisons or correctional facilities. Some civil society groups are active at country level to fight these abuses, and others are engaged at the international level. IFHHRO, Open Society Foundations and other NGOs are spearheading an initiative to connect these efforts, to put the issue on international and national agendas, and to stop the abuses. The three topics IFHHRO will focus on are:

  1. Forced and/or coerced sterilisation

  2. Pain management as human right

  3. Detention instead of treatment 

The role of health professionals

As medical professionals we need to acknowledge and discuss these problems. The health professions can play a crucial role in changing the situation. We have a powerful voice, and we know the reality inside health care settings, good and bad. We have a responsibility to engage and do what we can to stop ill treatment in health care and in the name of health care.

If you are interested in joining or contributing to this initiative, please contact us.

Case studies

  • Forced or coerced sterilisation: the story of Jane, an HIV-positive mother in Namibia who was sterilised against her will.

  • Denial of essential pain relief: the story of Volodymyr, a 43-year-old man in Ukraine, who was dying from cancer and was in severe pain but received only limited doses of morphine.

  • Detention for treatment: the story of Mohd from Malaysia, who was arrested after a drug test and held against his will in a drug treatment centre, where he was continuously abused.

Campaign News

  • New FIGO guidelines on sterilisation

    sterilisation2Last year, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) published new guidelines on sterilisation and informed consent. The document acknowledges that there is ample evidence of a long history of forced and otherwise non-consensual sterilisations of women, including Roma women in Europe, women with disabilities and women living with HIV. 

     

  • Ruling European Court of Human Rights on forced sterilisation

    sterilisation2In a groundbreaking decision, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that forced sterilisation is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Several years ago, a Roma woman was forcibly sterilised in a state hospital in Eastern Slovakia during a Caesarean section.

     

  • New fact sheet on forced or coerced sterilisation

    sterilisation2A new Open Society Foundations fact sheet provides information on instances of forced sterilisation of racial and ethnic minorities, poor women, women living with HIV, and women with disabilities.