Agenda is an alliance of charities who campaign for women and girls facing abuse, poverty, poor mental health, addiction and homelessness to get the support and protection they need. Mind is a member of the alliance and this report is part of their campaign "Women in Mind". It calls for women's needs, and in particular their experience of abuse and violence, to be prioritised and taken seriously in policy, strategy and delivery.
This report sets out the increasing evidence that being detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 can be detrimental to women and girls' wellbeing and doesn't take into account their particular needs.
In 2016/2017 21,291 women and girls and 22,716 men and boys were detained. However, women and girls are more likely to be detained under section than men and boys. Agenda obtained figures from the CQC which showed that women's self-inflicted deaths overtook men's in 2015 and 2016.
The report highlights the difficulty that many people face in seeking treatment and support early on rather than being left until the point of crisis. The report argues that more needs to be done to tailor the care received by women and girls and to take more account of previous experiences of trauma. Many risk re-traumatisation and abuse, including through:
Agenda has made a number of recommendations including:
The full report can be found here: https://weareagenda.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Women-in-Crisis-Agenda-report-.pdf
This report sets out the shocking reality for women and girls and the desperate need for change. We hope that the recommendations in this report will be adopted. Many of which could be addressed by way of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.
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