It is apparent that there is still a long way to go in terms of equity between physical and mental health in terms of funding in member states of the Commonwealth. These findings confirm earlier observations of discrimination against people with mental illness. We suggest that there must be mechanisms in place to facilitate and support change wherever required.

Discrimination against people with mental illness is rife across the globe. Among different types of discrimination is the policy in many countries where persons with mental illness are forbidden to inherit property, and they are not able to enter into a contract in a large number of countries. Using various databases, legislations dealing with law of contract, law of succession/inheritance, and law relating to testamentary capacity (wills) of all UN Member states (193 countries) were studied. With respect to federal countries, the laws of the most populous state as a representative state in the respective country were studied. Only 40 Member States (21%) recognize/allow persons with mental health problems to enter into contracts. Of these, however, only 16 Member States (9%) recognize the right of persons with mental health problems to enter into a contract without any restrictions. The remaining 24 Member States (12%) allow a contract entered into by a person with mental health problems to be invalidated under certain conditions. These countries also make the validity of the contract subject to the capacity to consent or based on the level of understanding of the person with mental health problems. They may allow persons with mental health problems to enter into contracts only for transactions of an insignificant nature or of personal rights. Only 9% of the countries allow people with mental illness to enter into contracts in an unrestricted way. Furthermore, there remain variations between high income and low income states. In spite of international laws in many countries, laws remain discriminatory.

women, as CPTSD may both be a catalyst for increasing risk of experiencing future stress, as well as increasing one's vulnerability to such exposure. These various options can be assessed in a future longitudinal study addressing PTSD/CPTSD immediately after captivity release and at different time points in the post-ISIS camps. In any case, fortifying such traumatized women with a safe environment along with psychoeducation targeting their increased sensitivity may be very helpful until suitable interventions are available.Limitations of the current study include a cross-sectional cohort and a relatively small sample. Although alpha values exceeded the reliability benchmark, they were lower than in previous studies 1,2 , perhaps due to cultural/educational factors, which markedly differed in our sample from usual ones. Yet the findings illuminate the psychological aftermath of perhaps the most extreme atrocity occurring in recent years.Results also indicate the need for greater awareness of postcaptivity conditions. Future large-scale studies are required to continue the assessment of Yazidi captives. This should be informative with regard to theoretical issues concerning CPTSD, its distinction from PTSD, as well as aiding the development of feasible, culturally relevant and effective interventions to help these survivors.