Persons with psychosocial disorders face critical challenges

By Elias Hakizimana.

Persons with disabilities especially those with psychosocial disorders still face challenges of different types despites efforts put in place to ensure inclusive rights and justice.

The issue has been a subject of discussion on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 between journalists and NOUSPR Ubumuntu, a Rwanda based local NGO that aims to advocate for the wellbeing of people with psychosocial disability.

NOUSPR Ubumuntu in partnership with National Union of Disability Organizations of Rwanda (NUDOR) have been addressing journalists in Kigali during a press conference on the subject of discrimination against persons with psychosocial disability in family and society in Rwanda and how to overcome them.

The event was sponsored by Disability Rights Fund and International Disability Alliance (IDA).

Rose Umutesi, Executive Director of NOUSPR Ubumuntu said that it has been remarked that persons with psychosocial disability face discrimination and are deprived of the right to healthcare, access to justice and education among other sectors.

She said that it is a long journey and requires joint efforts to eradicate stigma and challenges facing persons with psychosocial disability.

Umutesi highlighted some good achievement by the organization since they started activities some years back.

“When we started, we moved some vulnerable persons with psychosocial disabilities from the streets, without clothes and we supported them. Some are now government employees, they teach in secondary schools, they are accountant, and others are married. It is a significant stride made as their hope of life has been restored,” Umutesi said.

She explained that NOUSPR Ubumuntu supports the beneficiaries through 22 groups located in different districts where they partner with priests to organize people in the groups.

Challenges persist.  

Umutesi said that one of the challenges facing the organization and beneficiaries is that some persons with psychosocial disorders are fenced in the houses by their relatives, depriving them of the rights to freedom and making it difficult to support them as nobody can see them.

She gave an example of a girl child who was found in a very critical health condition after she fell into the stove with fire and her parents put her inside the house instead of taking her to the health center for treatment.

Other challenges facing these persons, she said, include lack of information about their fathers as their mothers were impregnated without their consent due to the weakness based on their disabilities, and cannot reveal who are the father of the child.

“These persons are also deprived of labour and property rights, they are sexually violated, etc. we have one case of a 16-year-old boy in Bugesera district who was defiled by a woman sex worker, and she was HIV/positive. We believe that some solutions will come out with law enforcement and advocacy by stakeholders and the media,” Umutesi said.

The observation by MONUSPR Ubumuntu revealed 16 persons with psychosocial disabilities who were fired from work after their employees found them taking drugs to calm the crisis.

According to Venuste Uwizeyimana, a lawyer who works with NUDOR, lawyers are committed to provide free advocacy support to persons with psychosocial disabilities.

“We helped them through different interventions, and we remain committed towards giving them all possible support for them to access justice and human rights,’ he said.

theinspirerpublications@gmail.com  

Follow us @theinspirerpubl