Description
Persons with disabilities, in particular older persons, children and women with disabilities are at higher risk of suffering violence and abuse in their home environment and in institutions. People in institutional settings are particularly vulnerable to violence considering the inherent characteristics of these settings, such as social isolation, power asymmetries, depersonalisation and lack of ability to seek independent advice or support.
In this context, in March 2021, the European Commission published a new EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, which addresses the heightened risk to human rights violations in institutions, highlighting the need for improving access to justice and protection, including by “monitoring of institutions and investigation in case violence, crimes or abuse occurs”. The strategy calls on the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) to examine the situation of persons with disabilities living in institutions regarding violence, abuse, and torture.
This service thus aimed to collect relevant data from Belgium to the FRA, in response to this request, as well as to contribute to the Agency’s activities as member of the EU Framework for monitoring compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and support FRA’s work towards the proper implementation of the EU Victims’ Rights Directive.
