Please help us Change Guardianship
Join our ‘Change Guardianship' campaign by writing to governments urging that they do so.
Suggested points to make in your letter
- If you are a citizen or resident of the government to which you are writing, explain this.
- If you are a supporter of MDAC say this, and also explain that MDAC advances the human rights of children and adults with actual or perceived intellectual or psycho-social (mental health) disabilities.
- Explain that you are joining MDAC, its partner and many other organizations and individuals, in their campaign to change guardianship.
- Give reasons why the government should change guardianship. These could include some or all of the following:
- people with disabilities have for many years been virtually invisible to society and in particular to governments
- as a consequence of this invisibility they are subject to routine discrimination and abuse for which few are held accountable
- guardianship is often viewed as a necessary legal mechanism introduced to ‘protect' people considered not capable of making the ‘right' decision in their daily lives. Nonetheless in many countries this view is misleading. Guardianship can instead be a legal mechanism that serves to arbitrarily remove the legal capacity and human rights of those under guardianship whilst perpetuating and hiding abuse against many thousands of adults
- recognition that guardianship can arbitrarily remove legal capacity and human rights whilst perpetuating and hiding abuse against many thousands of adults, has led to many individuals and organisations call for a change to the guardianship model and/or
- recognition that guardianship can arbitrarily remove legal capacity and human rights whilst perpetuating and hiding abuse against many thousands of adults has led to, amongst others, article 12 in the recently adopted UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This article confirms that States should recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life and that they should take appropriate measures to provide access by such persons to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity
- you therefore call on the government to show commitment to the international community and to international law. They can demonstrate this commitment by taking appropriate and effective measures to ensure that guardianship is seen as a measure of last resort and that means other than guardianship are provided to ensure protection and assistance to people with disabilities
- supported decision making is the most appropriate measure for people with disabilities requiring assistance in decision making.
- Ask for a reply to your letter confirming the government's approach to those requiring support in decision making and the steps it intends to take in the future in this respect.
Please send MDAC notification, or a copy of any reply you receive. This will help us keep track of what governments are saying.
Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC)
Rákóczi út 27/B, 1088 Budapest, Hungary
tel: +36 1 413 27 30, fax: +36 1 413 27 39
e-mail: mdac@mdac.info, web: www.mdac.info
