The World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) is an international organisation representing, and led by what it terms " survivors of

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

". As of 2003, over 70 national organizations were members of WNUSP, based in 30 countries. The network seeks to protect and develop the

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocat ...

dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

and self-determination of those labeled '

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

Activities

WNUSP has special consultative status with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. It contributed to the development of the UN's

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the convention are required to promote, ...

. WNUSP has produced a manual to help people use it entitled "Implementation Manual for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities", edited by Myra Kovary. WNUSP joined with other organizations to create the International Disability Caucus, which jointly represented organizations of people with disabilities and allies during the CRPD negotiations. WNUSP was part of the steering committee of the IDC, which maintained a principle of respecting the leadership of diverse constituencies on issues affecting them, and also maintained that the convention should be of equal value to all persons with disabilities irrespective of the type of disability or geographical location. Tina Minkowitz, WNUSP's representative on the IDC steering committee, coordinated the IDC's work on key articles of the CRPD, including those on legal capacity, liberty, torture and ill-treatment and integrity of the person. Since the adoption and entry into force of the CRPD, WNUSP has worked with other organizations in the International Disability Alliance and its CRPD Forum to guide the interpretation and application of the CRPD on these issues. In 2007 at a Conference held in Dresden on "Coercive Treatment in Psychiatry: A Comprehensive Review", the president and other leaders of the

World Psychiatric Association The World Psychiatric Association is an international umbrella organisation of psychiatric societies. Objectives and goals Originally created to produce world psychiatric congresses, it has evolved to hold regional meetings, to promote profess ...

met, following a formal request from the World Health Organization, with several representatives from the user/survivor movement, including

Judi Chamberlin Judi Chamberlin (née Rosenberg; October 30, 1944 – January 16, 2010) was an American activist, leader, organizer, public speaker and educator in the psychiatric survivors movement. Her political activism followed her involuntary confinemen ...

(Co-chair of WNUSP), Mary Nettle and

Peter Lehmann Peter Lehmann may refer to: *Peter Lehmann (winemaker) (1930–2013), Australian winemaker *Peter Lehmann (author) (born 1950), German author * Peter Lehmann (ice hockey) (born 1946), Swiss ice hockey player See also *Lehmann Lehmann is a German ...

(Ex-chairs of the European Network of x-Users and Survivors of Psychiatry), Dorothea Buck (Honorary Chair of the German Federal Organisation of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, and

David Oaks David William Oaks (born September 16, 1955, Chicago, Illinois) is a civil rights activist and founder and former executive director of Eugene, Oregon-based MindFreedom International. Career David Oaks' organization MindFreedom International in ...

(Director of

MindFreedom International MindFreedom International is an international coalition of over one hundred grassroots groups and thousands of individual members from fourteen nations. Based in the United States, it was founded in 1990 to advocate against Involuntary treatment, ...

). Salam Gómez and Jolijn Santegoeds are the current Co-Chairpersons of WNUSP. Current International Representative and former co-chair of WNUSP is Tina Minkowitz, an international advocate and lawyer. She represented WNUSP in the Working Group convened by the UN to produce a draft text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and contributed to a UN seminar on torture and persons with disabilities that resulted in an important report on the issue by Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak in 2008.

History

Since the 1970s, the psychiatric survivors movement has grown from a few scattered self-help groups to a worldwide network engaged in protecting

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

and facilitation of efforts to provide

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

, public

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

, socialisation and

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

programmes. The term 'psychiatric survivor' is used by individuals who identify themselves as having experienced human rights violations in the mental health system. WNUSP was established to further promote this movement and to respond on an international level to the oppression survivors continue to experience. After initially meeting, in 1991, as the World Federation of Psychiatric Users at the biennial

World Federation for Mental Health The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is an international, multi-professional non-governmental organization (NGO), including citizen volunteers and former patients. It was founded in 1948 in the same era as the United Nations (UN) and the W ...

conference in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, the network's name was changed to WNUSP in 1997. In 2000, the WNUSP Secretariat was established in Odense, Denmark. In 2001, the network held its First General Assembly in Vancouver, British Columbia, with 34 groups from twelve countries represented, and adopted its governing statutes. In 2004, the network held its Second General Assembly in

Vejle, Denmark Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

with 150 participants from 50 countries attending. In 2007 WNUSP received ECOSOC special consultative status at the United Nations. In 2009, WNUSP held its third General Assembly in Kampala, Uganda. It adopted the Kampala Declaration stating its positions on the CRPD, which was later expanded into a longer version adopted by consensus of the board and the participants in the Kampala GA.

ENUSP

The European Network of (Ex-) Users and Survivors of Psychiatry is the most important European NGO of (ex-) users and survivors. Forty-two representatives from 16 European countries met at a conference to found it in the Netherlands in October 1991. Every 2 years, delegates from the ENUSP members in more than 40 European countries meet at a conference where the policies for the coming period are set out. All delegates are (ex-)users and survivors of psychiatry. ENUSP is officially involved in consultations on mental health plans and policies of the European Union, World Health Organization and other important bodies. Initial funding came from the Dutch government and from the European Commission but has since proved more difficult to secure. ENUSP is involved in commenting and debating declarations, position papers, policy guidelines of the EU, UN, WHO and other important bodies.Hollis, I. (2002
About the impossibility of a single (ex-) user and survivor of psychiatry position
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Volume 104 Issue s410, Pages 102 - 106

References

External links

WNUSP
- World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP main web site)

- European Network of (ex-)Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP main web site)

- 'ENUSP Press Release' (July 20, 2004)

-

International Disability Alliance The International Disability Alliance (IDA), created in 1999, is an umbrella organization focused on improving awareness and rights for individuals with disabilities around the globe. The IDA works with Non Governmental Organizations (NGO's), sup ...

Moosa-Salie.oism.info
- 'Launching Conference of the Pan African Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (PANUSP)', Moosa Salie
CHRUSP
- Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry

- 'Contribution by World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry', United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (January, 2004) {{Anti-psychiatry Organizations established in 1991 Anti-psychiatry Civil disobedience Disability rights organizations Psychiatric survivor activists International organizations based in Denmark