The Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida Receives 8th Award for Campaigns to Protect Mental Health Human Rights

    CLEARWATER, FL, May 01, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Recognized for their work to protect mental health human rights and to address coercive psychiatry, the Florida chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) was named the winner in the 2024 PRNEWS Digital Awards for Cause-Related Campaign and Digital Team of the Year.

"This year's Digital Award winners exemplify the myriad ways in which digital communications can shape brand and organizational success, from platform-specific expertise to crisis response to influencer-driven content." Says Kaylee Hultgren, Content Director for PRNEWS. "These honorees have shown what it takes to adapt, innovate and break through the clutter in an increasingly crowded digital space."

As a mental health watchdog, CCHR has long fought to restore basic inalienable human rights to the field of mental health and CCHR Florida, which consists of a vast volunteer network, worked to expose blatant abuse of the use of involuntary psychiatric examination. This form of coercive psychiatry, commonly known as a Baker Act in Florida, was responsible for hundreds of thousands of involuntary psychiatric examinations in the state each year.

Working closely with the rest of the team, Diane Stein, the President for CCHR in Florida along with CCHR Florida Media Commissioner, Laurie Jessup, developed a PR and communications strategy to expose the mental health human rights abuses committed using the Baker Act.

Using investigative news stories and social media to communicate the need for change was an integral part of actions taken to help pass laws that resulted in the reduction of the number of Baker Acts in Florida for three straight years.

In total, the communications campaign reached tens of millions resulting in positive change that obtained the goal of protecting mental health human rights.

About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR's mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: "Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the 'free world' tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of 'mental health,'" he wrote in March 1969.

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