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abuse faced by institutionalized children include: "segregation and seclusion...neglect...lack of privacy for personal care... Insufficient Safeguards Against Abusive Use of Restraints and Physical and
Psychological Violence...involuntary and inappropriate medical treatment... denial of sexual and reproductive health...lack of education...lack of engagement by legal guardians... limited freedom of movement... denial of legal capacity...

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Children end up in institutions based on "undue pressure on and lack of information to parents...lack of community based services...lack of community based health care...scarce support services...lack of inclusive education... poverty and broken foster care system...

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A new institution was created in 2014, going against all possible progress.

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in 2015, the Serbian government was beginning to remodel the institutions, some for the better of the disabled individuals, and some not so good- this being a "isolation room"

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Children in group homes are grouped based on their disability- social, intellectual, physical, etc.

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Mihajllo, a disabled 17 year old who lives in a group home said  “I consider children who live here to be my family, but I
would rather live with my dad and my brother [in Belgrade], or in a foster family.”

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Serbia established "group homes" which were designed to begin working to get children out of institutions and into homes, but many children still live in these group homes for many years.

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" As many
as 79.9 percent of children in institutions in 2014 in Serbia were children with disabilities,
up from 62.5 percent from 2012"

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"... children who
were moved from an institution into family-based environment demonstrated signs of
improvement in their intellectual functioning, attachment patterns, reduced signs of
emotional withdrawal, and reduced prevalence of mental health conditions."

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The research done by HRW included 48 children + their families.

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"Serbian national law prohibits inhuman
and degrading treatment and guarantees all citizens in state care the right to humane
treatment."

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Serbia might join the EU, but to do so it must first improve the conditions under which the disabled individuals live.

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Serbia is involved with multiple treaties that ensure the correct treatment of disabled individuals, and is obviously not seeing through to these treaties.

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Those who ARE enrolled in school are enrolled with a school that teaches only disabled children.

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Limited access to education and virtually none are enrolled in any type of schooling

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The institutionalized adults have their own legal right taken away, and are not allowed to make their own decisions, especially medical ones.

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Birth parents of the children rarely visit

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Medicine is administered without close watch on dosage, and merely given based on observation of behavior (ie: child acts up: give them medicine)

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Children are placed in the same room as adults at home, placing them even more at risk for abuse.

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Research proves that institutionalization harms health, development, and future opportunities.

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Almost 80% of the people in institutions are disabled children.

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Despite the Serbian government pushing children to be moved into foster care rather than institutionalization, it is a slow process to get all of the disabled persons out and fit with a family.

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Human Rights Watch says that the Serbian government should: Prevent abuse, prevent separation, reunite families, provide alternate care, ensure inclusive education, and protect the right to legal capacity.

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Serbia is a part of multiple human rights organizations, and are in direct violation in many of them. They are a part of the Convention on the Rights of Person's with Disabilities, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the  Convention Against All Forms of Torture and the European Convention on Human Rights, and the UN, and is also being looked at to join the EU.

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The little personal contact leads to struggle between families when the children come home. Julie's family "struggled to establish some sort of physical contact."

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In institutions, there is "little staff and personal contact."

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A 2012 report that showed decline in disabled children in institutions, but this was overruled because it was found to be lower simply because some of the disabled children had grown and were no longer regarded as children.

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Yet the "Human Rights Watch found that the
government continues to place even babies with disabilities in institutions, despite the
2011 prohibition."

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There is a "lack of health care and support services in the community, poverty,
stigma, discrimination, and social exclusion means that children with disabilities continue
to be placed in institutions, even though many have a living parent."

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Some progress has been made in Serbia, just as the placement of policies that work to place children in foster care over institutionalization, and restricts children under 3 to be placed in institutions, and for them to be in institution for not over 2 months.

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The parents of Julie had said they had "no community support and services available."

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Regarding young Julie, who was institutionalized at a young age: "We went to visit her and nothing remained of that child who used to smile
and cackle. She had a lost look in her eyes, she visibly lost weight, she was
sad in a way. I don’t know whether it is possible for a three-month-old child
to feel that - a lack of parental love, but… it was as if she had sunken."