ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

Health care settings should be places where human rights are realized. Yet, too often, they are places where human rights are severely abused, sometimes amounting to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. This is especially true for socially marginalized groups—people living with HIV, sexual and gender minorities, people who use drugs, and people with intellectual disabilities or mental health problems—who may be deemed “deviant,” “incompetent,” and in need of evaluation or “curative” treatment through the health care system.  

International law explicitly prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. However, these laws are not commonly applied to health facilities. The Campaign to Stop Torture in Health Care promotes government accountability for all forms of torture and ill-treatment in health settings, including those most egregious and pervasive abuses condoned on the grounds of medicine, public health, or social order.

An increasing number of health and human rights organizations have joined the campaign to put an end to the abuse of individuals in health settings. The Campaign to Stop Torture in Health Care is committed to a world in which all people are free from torture and abuse as part of their fundamental human rights.