Mental Impairmentand Abuse

Over the years perceptions of and attitudes towards disability have varied significantly from one community to another. Mental disability and mental health care are surprisingly overlooked within the global discourse on health equality and mental health has always appeared to be a side issue in both the public and academic health debates. There appears to be social distaste for issues pertaining to mental health and disability. A significant exception to this attitude was the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on December 13 2006. Nigeria as one of the parties to this convention ratified this convention on September 24 2010. Thus she became the 94thratifier of the convention and the 58thratifier of the optional protocol (United States International Council on Disabilities 2012). Ratifying a treaty commits a country to implementing it. This gives persons with disabilities [mentally impaired persons (MIPs)] the right to be protected from abuse violence and torture as well as the right to access social justice.