ABSTRACT
This chapter explores why 2016 was a momentous year in the world of mental health in Israel. The use of mechanical restraints in mental health hospitals has long been a pervasive practice in Israel. The chapter describes the approach and tactics to represent a new and potentially replicable course of action through which human rights activists themselves may help to ensure the dignity and wellbeing of people in psychiatric care. The Treatment for Persons with Mental Disabilities Law further grants psychiatrists, and at times ward orderlies, the authority to restrain patients, or place them in seclusion. Bizchut’s ‘Breaking the Restraints’ project has been an attempt to break down and put an end to injurious practices and violations of human rights in psychiatric facilities. The sustainable development goal framework also strengthens the continuing influence of civil society on public mental health policy.
