“The investigation gathered testimonies from individuals who experienced violence in institutions, uncovering situations of physical and emotional abuse, mistreatment, deprivation of liberty, dehumanization, ridicule, and overmedication,” revealed the Center for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra (UC) in a statement sent to the news agency Lusa.
The report “Care Places = Safe Places?” included contributions from the Permanent Observatory of Justice at the CES of UC, featuring work by Fernando Fontes, Cláudia Nogueira, and Diana Barros.
Many accounts gathered by the project “demonstrate how various forms of violence are cumulative and have a profound impact on the well-being and physical and mental health of the victims.”
The report further indicates that “the normalization of violence, difficulties in reporting abuses, and the lack of effective monitoring” endanger the rights of these users.
According to the same note, the FRA considers it urgent to strengthen public policies that prevent violence, protect victims, and hold professionals and institutions accountable.
In the European Union, more than 1.4 million people with disabilities live in institutions, with the number in Portugal exceeding 6,600 residents in 2022.
In the national context, “the 2021 census indicates that 8% of people with disabilities over five years of age reside in collective accommodations, a figure much higher than the 1.5% of the general population,” added the CES.
“The data concerning Portugal align with the comparative study promoted by the FRA, as national analysis concludes that despite the existence of legislation, protective measures, and reporting mechanisms, the practical application of these tools remains weak and ineffective.”
Among the six main challenges identified are the persistence of stereotypes about disability, the lack of human resources and specialized training, and public policy models that continue to favor institutionalization.
Insufficient monitoring, weak effectiveness of complaint mechanisms, and the slow and paternalistic view of the judicial system were other issues detected.
The project also highlighted three groups at increased risk of violence within institutions, namely “people with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities who cannot communicate verbally; people with mental illness hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals; and people with dual diagnoses, combining intellectual disability and mental health issues.”
Researchers concluded that “there is widespread lack of knowledge about independent monitoring and reporting mechanisms, largely due to the lack of accessible information within institutions, which contributes to the persistence of these situations,” indicated the CES.
The study was conducted in 27 European Union countries and three candidate countries, complemented by interviews in ten countries, and “reinforces the FRA’s call for urgent action by Member States.”
Recommended measures include deinstitutionalization, improvement of complaint mechanisms, and the active participation of people with disabilities in political decisions that concern them.
