Report names Nigeria, Ghana, seven other countries where mentally ill people are shackled

Many are forced to eat, sleep, urinate, and defecate in the same tiny area,” says the report

ByallAfrica

Many people with mental health conditions in African nations are living shackled in chains or locked up in confined spaces, says Human Rights Watch.

In a report issued on Tuesday, the rights group says a study carried out by its researchers over a nine-year period shows that Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somaliland and South Sudan are among about 60 countries around the world in which those regarded as mentally ill are ill-treated as a result of being stigmatised or a lack of mental health services.

“Many are forced to eat, sleep, urinate, and defecate in the same tiny area,” says the report. “In state-run or private institutions, as well as traditional or religious healing centres, they are often forced to fast, take medications or herbal concoctions, and face physical and sexual violence.”

Shackling people is “an open secret” in many places, according to Kriti Sharma, the author of the report. “People can spend years chained to a tree, locked in a cage or sheep shed because families struggle to cope and governments fail to provide adequate mental health services.”

Ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, Human Rights Watch (HRW) is launching an international compaign, with the hashtag #BreakTheChains, to end the practice. Its report estimates that 792 million people globally suffer mental health conditions, but says the world’s governments spend less than two percent of their health budgets on mental health.

“In the absence of proper mental health support and lack of awareness,” the report says, “many families feel they have no option but to shackle their relatives. They are often worried that the person might run away or hurt themselves or others.

“Shackling is typically practiced by families who believe that mental health conditions are the result of evil spirits or having sinned… Some people are even shackled to another person, forcing them to go to the toilet and sleep together.

“In many countries, families take relatives – including children as young as 10 – to traditional or faith healing centres where they are shackled for restraint or punishment… They are… routinely forced to take medication or subjected to alternative ‘treatments’ such as concoctions of ‘magical’ herbs, fasting, vigorous massages by traditional healers, Quranic recitation in the person’s ear, Gospel hymns, and special baths.”