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Inter- American Commission on Human Rights hears testimony on abuse and torture case filed by DRI and Georgetown Law School’s O’Neil Institute

Washington, DC, July 2023 – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), recently held a public hearing on a case filed against the Mexican government by Disability Rights International (DRI) and Georgetown University Law School’s O'Neill Institute, regarding the abuses and torture perpetrated against children and adults – most with developmental disabilities - who are confined indefinitely to the Casa Esperanza Institution in Mexico.  

Bipartisan Senators Introduce International Children with Disabilities Protection Act in US Congress

This bill represents everything we’ve been working on for over two decades. All children — especially children with disabilities — need our support to live and grow up in a loving family. And they need protection against being placed in orphanages or other institutions.

—   Laurie Ahern, President, Disability Rights International

International Children with Disabilities Protection Act

International Children with Disabilities Protection Act ; S.4982 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)

WASHINGTON – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today were joined by ten of their Senate colleagues in introducing the International Children with Disabilities Protection Act, new legislation to bolster U.S. support for children with disabilities, helping improve the capacity of local disabilities rights organizations and families of children with disabilities around the world to advocate for necessary reforms.
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Still At Risk

Still at Risk - Death and Disappearance of Survivors of the Fire at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción

On March 7, 2017, a group of girls, boys and teenagers protested the physical and sexual abuse, rape and trafficking that they were subjected to at the institution Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion (Virgen de la Asuncion), in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Virgen de la Asuncion was a public institution where up to 800 children were detained prior to these protests. The authorities of Virgen de la Asuncion called on the National Police to repress the protests. As a punishment, the girls who had protested were beaten and locked up in a tiny auditorium with a capacity for 26 people standing, without a bathroom and access to water, where they were left to spend the night.

New report: Still at Risk - Death and Disappearance of Survivors of the fire at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción

Guatemala City, October 13, 2021 - Disability Rights International (DRI) published a report detailing how survivors of the fire and children who were detained at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion in Guatemala are still at risk. On March 7, 2017, boys and girls protested the physical and sexual abuse, rape and trafficking they suffered at the institution Virgen de la Asunción. As a punishment, the girls who had protested were locked in a tiny auditorium overnight. In the early hours of March 8, a fire broke out and forty-one girls died.

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