Emma Wynne-Bannister presented her work on the right to live in the community for persons with mental health problems at the 8th Symposium of CONACYT Scholarship Holders in Europe

8th Symposium of the CONACYT Scholarship Holders in Europe.

Emma Wynne-Bannister, who carries out a PhD as part of Workstream 2, presented her work on the right to live in the community CONACYT’s annual scientific event on 3 April 2019. Approximately 100 Mexican fellows from 13 different European countries met to exchange and promote synergies between them and with the Mexican and European scientific and institutional personalities invited.

Abstract: Historically, people with mental illnesses have been segregated from society and their right to live independently and make decisions about where and with whom they reside has been violated. Since the 1960s this has been reported to represent a violation of the rights of people with disabilities. Therefore, my presentation aims to explore the right to live independently and in the community stipulated in the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which came into force in 2008, with a specific focus on persons with mental illness. Mexico ratified the CRPD and is currently trying to achieve the objectives of this agreement. However, the right to live independently and in the community instead of institutions is still a faraway goal for many people with mental illness in the country. This paper will address the philosophical foundations of this right from a theory of social justice called the Capability Approach. This theory allows to lay the foundations and examine the importance of this right for human life and well-being. My presentation will also include anthropological findings about the meaning of this right in different contexts. Through understanding why this human right is morally valuable and the complexities of it in different contexts, it is possible to think and propose ways to guarantee persons with mental illnesses access to this right.