The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) today welcomes the publication of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights’ (FRA) new report, Places of care = places of safety? Violence against persons with disabilities in institutions', which exposes widespread neglect, abuse and violence experienced by people with disabilities living in institutional settings across the EU.
The report highlights that more than 1.4 million people with disabilities in the EU continue to live in institutions, where chronic understaffing, resource deficits and a culture of silence allow serious human rights violations to persist. These include verbal abuse, involuntary treatments, arbitrary restraints, overmedication, labour and financial exploitation, and physical and sexual violence. The report notes that people with intellectual disabilities, children and older people face particularly heightened risks.
The Commission notes particularly the detailed findings on Ireland, detailed in the accompanying case study research on Ireland, which points to the prevalence and persistence of various forms of abuse (financial, physical, emotional, sexual) within large and small institutions in Ireland, including financial control, restrictive practices, coercion, and peer-to-peer violence. This is enabled by a culture that normalises negative behaviours, resource constraints, and slow progress in transitions individuals from institutional to community settings.
The Irish case discusses inadequate legislative frameworks and a fragmented legal and policy landscape, inadequate implementation of existing frameworks, and the need for effective complaints mechanisms.
The Commission reiterates the report’s finding that the continued failure of EU Member States, including Ireland, to fulfil their obligations under Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), particularly the obligation to end institutionalisation, is at the root of these systemic abuses.
The FRA sets out urgent actions for governments, including:
- Ending institutionalisation and prioritising community-based living;
- Strengthening laws and data collection to better protect residents from violence;
- Ensuring fully independent, adequately resourced monitoring with unannounced visits;
- Creating safe, accessible and confidential reporting channels for victims;
- Providing practical guidance and compulsory training for staff, police, the judiciary and monitoring bodies;
- Ensuring the full participation of people with disabilities and their representative organisations in shaping policy and practice.
The Commission reiterates the need for an urgent response to the prevalence of violence in Irish institutions, including:
- Legislative reform to protect the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, including the advancement of the Protection of Liberty Safeguards Bill, Mental Health Bill 2024 and the Inspection of Places of Detention Bill, and implementation of related standards and guidelines, developed in consultation with disabled people and in particular delivery of adequate and effective protection of safeguards legislation accompanied with continuous education and training for staff and residents about rights and abuse recognition.
- Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and its scope with regard to de facto detention in the health and social care sector.
- Effective investigation of reports of abuse of disabled children and adults in the health, social and care systems are adequately, and support for adults and children to make complaints though accessible, human-rights based mechanisms, including independent advocacy and legal representation.
- Measures to transition disabled people from inappropriate institutional settings, including nursing homes, by providing adequate funding and coordination, including through a case management system.
- Measures to actively support and resource disabled people to live independently, including its plans to provide adequate financial supports, a legal right to personal assistance, and flexible services across the life cycle.
Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick said:
“This important FRA report confirms what disabled people and their advocates have been saying for years: institutional settings, by their very nature, create environments where rights violations can occur unchecked. Ireland must accelerate its commitment to ending institutionalisation and ensure that all people with disabilities can live safely and independently in their communities. We also urgently need stronger safeguards, truly independent monitoring, and accessible reporting systems that people can trust.”
FRA director Sirpa Rautio said:
“Violence against people with disabilities in institutions is a systemic problem that requires systemic change. The EU and its Member States must fulfil their legal obligations and protect the fundamental rights of people with disabilities by prioritising their inclusion in the community, treating them with dignity and respect, and effectively protecting them from violence and abuse.”
The report is based on research across 27 EU Member States and three candidate countries, supported by in-depth interviews in 10 countries including Ireland.