The human right to mental healthcare : Bridging the rights-gap for women subjected to sexual violence

Abstract: Sexual violence against women is not only a serious public health problem of epidemic proportions, it’s also a violation of women’s human rights. The devastating consequences of these events on women’s health have been widely documented. The overarching purpose of this thesis is therefore to explore why public healthcare facilities around the world often fail to provide victims of sexual violence with mental healthcare of good quality that is available, accessible and acceptable. In order to investigate this, the legal grounds of specialized healthcare for victims of sexual violence was documented. Secondly, an exploration of whether the Swedish healthcare system provides victims of sexual violence with access to the highest attainable standard of mental healthcare was carried out. Lastly, the history of violence against women was explored in order to identify reasons for why the right to mental healthcare often fail to work in practice for female victims of sexual violence despite apparent agreements. Also, constructive suggestions are put forth regarding what governments can do to provide victims of sexual violence with access to the highest attainable standard of mental healthcare. An interdisciplinary approach of political sociology was used to illustrate the multiple dimensions of human rights. The findings suggest that the right to mental health is an integrated part of the right to health and thus a fundamental right for all human beings. However, the results indicate that the right to mental healthcare for women who have been subjected to sexual violence is not available, accessible and of good quality within the Swedish healthcare system. The study concludes that one of the main barriers to make the right to mental healthcare accessible for this group of patients is the lack of an officially recognized name that include the many different syndromes these women suffer. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research.