Institution WATCH

‘From the first moment I felt that something wasn’t right. They didn’t even let me see my daughter’s bedroom (Leah, the mother of a woman with an intellectual disability who lives in an institution). 16,700 persons with disabilities in Israel live in institutions behind closed doors and locked gates, far from the public eye. Every so often a story about abuse or neglect reaches the media - disgraceful sanitary conditions and social isolation. The public is outraged, government ministries promise to correct the situation, but nothing really changes. We cannot abandon the residents of institutions, the weakest and most silenced population within the disability community. Bizchut has decided to embark upon a systematic exposure of the state of human rights in these facilities. Your support for this project will enable us to expose and take action to correct violations of rights in three ways: 1. Development of the MOSADOT app – Development of a new app that will enable residents of institutions, relatives and professionals to submit complaints of violations of rights to Bizchut in real time – Cost 12,000 NIS 2. Institution WATCH: Training – Training for activists who will carry out surprise visits to institutions, the team will include persons with disabilities, relatives and concerned citizens – Cost 5,000 NIS 3. Institution WATCH: Surprise Visits – Bizchut, together with members of the Institution WATCH team will visit 20 institutions. Each visit will include preliminary collation of data on conditions in the facility, summary of findings after the visit, a report to the relevant government ministry and follow-up on the violations exposed – Cost 11,000 NIS Additional funds raised will be used to promote the establishment of an Ombudsman for conditions in institutions for persons with disabilities – an independent agency for receiving and responding to complaints on violations of rights, that has the authority to go into institutions, to collect testimony and take action to correct shortcomings. Support our crowdfunding campaign and help us to protect the rights of people living in institutions!