The window of tolerance (WoT) is a helpful metaphor for understanding our reactions to stress and trauma. When we are stressed or traumatised, grounding exercises can help us regulate us back within this window. There, we will be able to stay present, think clearly, and respond to challenges.
Intimate partner femicide is often the end result of long-term abuse and coercive control. While previous research has explored these dynamics, less is known about how perpetrators avoid intervention before the killing.
This study analyzes the life histories of 97 men imprisoned for femicide across nine Latin American countries. It identifies seven common strategies used to avoid detection: social isolation, gaslighting, restricting employment, framing others as threats, male peer support, controlling the woman’s body and space, and disrupting access to healthcare. These tactics helped perpetrators remain unnoticed by others, revealing missed chances for intervention. The findings underscore the role of male complicity and point to the need for earlier recognition of coercive patterns to prevent lethal outcomes.
These guidelines support civil society organisations in documenting international crimes and human rights violations in ways that may allow the information to be used as evidence in court. They outline key do’s and don’ts to help strengthen and avoid undermining accountability efforts. Developed in response to requests from civil society actors, the guidelines will be dynamic and updated based on their experiences and ongoing consultation. Available in English, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, and Arabic.
Torture, one of the most heinous crimes known to humanity, inflicts profound harms on individuals and threatens the health, dignity, and wellbeing of families and communities. Health professionals have a duty both to document torture and to protect human rights as a foundation for human health and wellbeing.1 Effective clinical investigation and documentation are essential to corroborate allegations of torture and other forms of ill-treatment and to achieve prevention, accountability, and redress for such crimes. Yet, until the 1990s, there were no internationally accepted standards for documenting torture and ill-treatment. (To read the full article, register for free at Lancet)
The irct.org website serves as a central resource provided by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) in support of the Istanbul Protocol. It offers comprehensive information and materials related to the Istanbul Protocol, including access to the official documents, guidelines, and resources for its implementation. The website likely aims to facilitate the understanding and effective use of the Istanbul Protocol by various professionals, such as legal experts, health professionals, and human rights defenders, involved in the documentation and investigation of torture and ill-treatment.
This is an editorial about the 2022 revised version of the Istanbul Protocol (IP). The author discusses the updates and changes in the new version, comparing it to the previous versions from 1999 and 2004. They highlight the expansion of legal content, the increase in length, and the ongoing debate between those advocating for a simpler protocol and those seeking a more comprehensive and specialised version.
This document provides a summary of the changes, clarifications, and updates made in the 2022 edition of the Istanbul Protocol. The Istanbul Protocol is a set of guidelines for States on the investigation and documentation of torture and ill-treatment. The 2022 edition includes additional information developed over the past 20 years, clarifications to existing guidance, and new guidance on important topics identified by stakeholders. The key principles of the Istanbul Protocol remain unchanged
Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment present the 2022 edition of the Istanbul Protocol, which builds upon the previous 2004 edition. This multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary road map is based on a large-scale international consultation that was carried out by more than 180 experts, including health, legal and human rights professionals from all regions of the world. Based on relevant provisions of international law, it provides even more concrete, clearly defined and well-understood guidelines to assist Member States, national human rights institutions, national preventive mechanisms, civil society, legal and health professionals and other relevant experts in implementing the Istanbul Protocol standards.
The effects of climate change, such as changes in temperatures, precipitation and biodiversity loss, are affecting human health, food security and livelihoods, as well as the quality and availability of land, water and other natural resources. As individuals are intrinsically linked to their environment, climate change poses a serious threat to every aspect of human life. It has been long recognized that the consequences of climate change are not experienced evenly, and women – who are less likely than men to own productive assets and are more dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods – are likely to be disproportionately affected. Social norms often put women in charge of gathering food, collecting water and fetching fuel for cooking and heating – chores that are increasingly time-consuming as climate change affects the availability and quality of these resources.
Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of hydrometeorological hazards. As temperatures change, rain patterns become erratic, and severe weather intensifies, livelihoods and ecosystem are increasingly affected. Immediate climate action is needed, and women and girls must be at the forefront of these efforts.
“We had nothing to eat for fifteen days,” sighed Sajida (20), as she recounted to me her experiences of the 2022 floods in Pakistan. “My whole family got Malaria, and we couldn’t access medicines or hospitals as Khairpur was drowned.”
The climate crisis does not affect everyone equally. Women and girls face disproportionate impacts from climate change — largely because they make up the majority of the world’s poor, who are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood.
Gender inequality coupled with the climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our time. It poses threats to ways of life, livelihoods, health, safety and security for women and girls around the world.
Climate change brings exposures to heat, air pollution, poorer quality food, and infectious disease that have significant direct effects on women and their mental health. These environmental impacts are multifaceted in their consequences and raise risks of depression, suicide, violent victimization, post-traumatic stress disorder, and various other neuropsychiatric symptoms. Women also suffer increased climate psychological risks from higher rates of stillbirth, preterm birth, and developmental problems in their children. Here we review what is known about the overlap of women’s individual mental health and climate change, and highlight areas where more research is needed.
The advent of climate change era has been affirmed by various global processes including 21 May 2019 recognition by the Anthropocene Working Group of ‘human impact’ in bringing profound alterations on planet earth. It has emerged as the predominant ‘world problematique’. Though entire populations are affected by climate change, women and girls suffer the most. Due to their traditional roles, women are heavily dependent on natural resources.
From 2163 citations screened, 61 studies were included in the final analysis. The review highlights that climate change disproportionately affects women, exacerbating pre-existing gender inequalities. Specific impacts include heightened mental health challenges, adverse maternal and newborn health outcomes, increased water insecurity, and an intensified caregiving burden. Women in LMICs are particularly vulnerable due to reduced access to resources, healthcare, and decision-making platforms, further limiting their adaptive capacities.
This guidance brochure has come into being through many years of experience in clinical work with refugees, both in specialist health services, and in municipal health services1. Its development is the result of a cooperation between the Regional centre on Violence, Traumatic Stress and suicide prevention, Region Mid-Norway (RVTS Midt), which deals with issues relating to Traumatic Stress and Suicide Prevention (RVTS), Mid-Norway regional office, the Refugee Health Team (RHT) in Trondheim Municipality, Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo and Department for Social Work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)/NTNU Social Research.
UNODC and UN Women have joined forces to improve data collection through the Statistical framework for measuring the gender-related killing of women and girls (also referred to as “femicide/feminicide”). We have seen some signs of improvement: 99 countries had at least one data point on female intimate partner/ family-related homicide in the period 2016-2022, up from 74 countries in 2009-2015. But more support is required, especially for developing countries which lack the funding and capacities to improve femicide reporting and responses, in line with commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Some 47,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members in 2020. This means that, on average, a woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes. Where trends can be calculated, they show that the magnitude of such gender-related killings remains largely unchanged, however, with only marginal increases and decreases over the past decade.
Every 10 minutes, partners and family members killed a woman intentionally in 2023. Gender-related killings (femicide/feminicide) are the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls.
Violence against women and girls remains one of the least prosecuted and punished crimes in the world. It is “still so deeply embedded in cultures around the world that it is almost invisible,” says the UN, describing it as “a construct of power and a means of maintaining the status-quo”. Indeed, its prevalence has desensitised people to the alarming reality – and the fact that far too often, violence against women and girls in all its various forms, ends in femicide.
More than two decades later, and despite the efforts of women’s rights movements to demand justice and accountability, as well as some notable progress in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, significant challenges persist in fully addressing the issue. We are alarmed that the number of killings by family members and intimate partners – the most common manifestation of femicide – remains at staggering levels globally. Some 51,100 women and girls were killed at home by people closely related to them in 2023, accounting for 60 per cent of all female homicides. In too many cases, victims of femicide had previously reported violence and their killings could have been prevented.
The damaging, pervasive and life-long impacts of sexual assault for survivors/victims are well documented (see, for example, Quadara, 2015). Responses to sexual violence have evolved as the nature and complexities of this type of violence has become better understood, particularly in light of the ways sexual victimisation is associated with the physical and mental health of sexual assault survivors (Quadara, 2015; Dworkin & Shumacher, 2016). Alongside research, practitioners across a diversity of sectors and services have identified the prevalence of trauma histories among service users, and particularly, the need for services that come in contact with sexual assault survivors to adopt trauma-informed care and practice (TICP) (Quadara, 2015).
The way that a child or young person experiences or understands death, the meaning they make of it, can result in it being experienced as traumatic. The trauma gets in the way of the typical process of grief and blocks the child or young person’s ability to process the loss. This can result in difficulties that can be severe and long lasting. Traumatic bereavement may be easily missed or misunderstood, meaning that children’s difficulties are not recognised. It is vital that these children are identified and given appropriate help and support.
This animation introduces concepts that are key to understanding traumatic bereavement. It communicates evidence-based information from the UK Trauma Council, sharing our current understanding of the impact of traumatic bereavement on children and young people.
Schools and communities around the country will be impacted by the loss of life associated with the war in Iraq. The effects may be significant for some people because of their emotional closeness to the war and/or their concern over terrorism. How school personnel handle the resulting distress can help shape the immediate and longer-term grieving process for students, staff, and families. Children, in particular, will need the love and support of their teachers and parents to cope with their loss and reach constructive grief resolution.
Children who have experienced the traumatic death of a person significant in their lives may have reactions and symptoms that we are beginning to understand are distinct from the grief following nontraumatic death. We believe that children who have experienced traumatic grief and who are troubled by overwhelming traumatic memories can be identified and helped to cope with traumatic reactions and ultimately remember the person who died in a healthy, meaningful way.
While everyone grieves differently, there are some behaviors and emotions commonly expressed by children depending on their developmental level. No matter how old a child is, it can be helpful to read through each of the age ranges, as there are times when a six year old asks a complex, big picture question and those when a teenager is struggling to find a physical outlet for their grief. We hope this information will help with understanding how grief affects children and teens across the developmental span.
The Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering or the “Méndez Principles” aim to modify police practices by replacing coercive interrogations with rapport-based interviews. Based on science, law, and ethics, the Méndez Principles propose a concrete alternative to interrogation methods that rely on coercion to extract confessions. They improve the results of investigations, fully respect human rights and enhance trust in the State. Here you can also download The Principles in 15 different languages.
PeaceWomen is the Women, Peace and Security Programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the oldest women’s peace organization in the world. We work for feminist peace by strengthening women’s meaningful participation, transforming gendered power, and bridging local gender conflict analysis with global efforts to implement a holistic WPS Agenda.
The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda, launched with UNSC Resolution 1325 in 2000, has expanded into a comprehensive framework with ten resolutions. These resolutions, developed over the years through persistent civil society advocacy, address issues from local to global levels, empowering intergovernmental bodies and grassroots movements to advance gender equality, prevent violence, and promote peace. The WPS resolutions include 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2242, 2467, and 2493, forming a vital foundation for action in the pursuit of peace and security for women worldwide. Here you will find a overview over the the main content of the resolutions. Read about each of the WPS resolutions or find translations in your language.
Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations like taking a test or giving a presentation. Anxiety can be beneficial as it helps increase your focus and keeps you alert for danger when the situation warrants it. However, when feelings of fear or distress become overwhelming, their intensity is out of proportion to the situation, or they interfere with daily activities, it could indicate an anxiety disorder.
Depression is more than just a passing blue mood, a “bad day,” or temporary sadness. The most common symptom is a low mood that can sometimes appear as irritability. Often the person with depression is not able to enjoy activities that he or she normally enjoys.
Humanitarian emergencies cause widespread suffering, affecting people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being. Affected populations experience a range of stressors that can have both immediate and long-term consequences. These include exposure to violence, separation from or loss of loved ones, poor living conditions, poverty, food insecurity, loss of livelihoods and means of survival, physical injuries and illnesses, and a lack of access to services such as health care, education and social care. The MHPSS MSP is a resource for humanitarian actors. The goal of the MSP is contributing to reduced suffering and improved mental health and psychosocial well-being among populations affected by humanitarian crises.
In addition to the MHPSS MP website, you can download the manual in different languages: English, Ukrainian, Arabic, French, Bulgarian, Polish
Returning children face many challenges including settling back into their families; re-enrolling in school; healing from trauma they may have experienced before, during, or after migration; and obtaining the resources to plan for a safer, brighter future. Through our program, returning children receive case management support, psychosocial, educational, and other critical services they- and their families- need to safely reintegrate. KIND’s reintegration services are gender-sensitive, trauma-informed, and culturally and linguistically responsive.
The publication focuses on the mental health needs of refugees and migrants by providing an overview of the available evidence on patterns of risk and protective factors and of facilitators and barriers to care at all levels (individual, family, community and national government). It identifies five high-level themes, each of which has implications for research and policy and is relevant across refugee and migrant groups, contexts and stages of the migration process: self-identity and community support; basic needs and security; cultural concepts of mental health as well as stigma; exposure to adversity and potentially traumatic events; navigating mental health and other systems and services.
Refugee children face numerous adverse experiences both pre and post-migration, including traumatic events, travelling long distances under dangerous circumstances, complex legal procedures and hostile refugee policies in the host country, social, cultural and language differences and discrimination during the resettlement process. Despite this, many refugee children display positive outcomes in the host country.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) forced migrants around the world report a history of multiple traumatic events across their lifespan. The range of events includes verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse and assault, harassment, shunning, spitting, discrimination in housing and employment, destruction of property, blackmail, forced prostitution, forced heterosexual marriage, ‘corrective rape and coerced sexual orientation conversion interventions. Those who from a young age are perceived by others as behaving in gender non-conforming ways are targeted starting in childhood
Violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people has been a staple of many armed conflicts and crises.1 But for governments and global institutions, persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity in conflict and crisis settings has been a blind spot. Queer people are largely invisible at the United Nations Security Council and in atrocity prevention efforts, peacebuilding processes, and international justice.
It sounds scary, but there’s no need to be frightened by talking about suicidal thoughts. Many LGBTQ+ people think about taking their life at some point, even if they’ve never made any solid plans. It’s not uncommon, and if you’re here reading this, or thinking about talking to someone, then well done! It’s a great first step.
Recent decades have marked major advances for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) people1 in many places, including the legalization of same-sex relations, legal recognition of gender identity on the basis of self-identification, better access to essential healthcare, restrictions on interventions on intersex minors, and increased protections against discrimination and hate crimes.
Supporting LGBTQ victims and survivors and being there for them as they navigate the complexities of life after trauma is a crucial aspect of collective healing. Whether you are part of the LGBTQ community or not, it remains vital to provide a safe and empathetic space for those whose paths may diverge from your own. Learn about ways to show your support for survivors within the LGBTQ community below.
Black LGBTQ+ young people hold multiple marginalised identities. Under the minority stress model, experiences of discrimination, rejection, threats, and violence are compounded, and can lead to negative mental health outcomes.
Many BIPOC LGBTQ+ young people are still facing difficult conversations with people who may be uninformed about race, queer identities, or the intersection of both. Intersectional conversations can take a variety of forms. Some are engaging their White friends for the first time about how being BIPOC impacts their experience in LGBTQ+ spaces, and others are opening up about the nuances of their queer experiences in BIPOC spaces. For people who hold multiple marginalized identities, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to explore the layers of these conversations with others — especially those whose lived experiences are different.
The Trevor Project offers several resources supporting the mental health of LGBTQ young people, including self-care guides and articles regarding mental wellness.
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The Human Rights Campaign is both saddened and infuriated by the deaths of at least 32 transgender and gender-expansive people whose lives have been tragically and inhumanely taken through violent means, including through gun and interpersonal violence, in 2023. Since 2013, the Human Rights Campaign has tracked incidents of fatal transgender violence— the same year the Federal Bureau of Investigation began reporting on hate crimes motivated by anti-transgender bias— and providing action items that can help end the violence.
The Trevor Project focuses on crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTIQ youth but also works to promote understanding and inclusivity in educational and workplace settings.
PFLAG provides support, education, and advocacy to create an inclusive environment for LGBTIQ individuals in all aspects of life, including the workplace.
The HRC is one of the largest LGBTIQ advocacy groups and political lobbying organisations in the United States. They publish the Corporate Equality Index, which rates workplaces on their LGBTIQ policies and practices.
This organisation focuses on achieving workplace equality for LGBTIQ individuals and provides resources, training, and advocacy to help companies create inclusive environments.
his manual is designed to orient helpers to offer psychological first aid (PFA) to people following a serious crisis event. PFA involves humane, supportive and practical assistance for people who are distressed, in ways that respect their dignity, culture and abilities.
General Guidelines for Addressing Mental Health Needs in the School Environment Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence-informed approach for assisting children, adolescents, adults, and families in the immediate aftermath of a stressful life event, such as a disaster, school crisis, or emergency. PFA is designed to reduce the initial distress caused by traumatic events and to foster short and long-term adaptive functioning.
This is a guide designed to help the reader to understand more about PTSD. As well as a description of trauma, symptoms of PTSD, and effective treatments, this guide explores key maintenance factors for PTSD including: unprocessed memories, beliefs about trauma and its consequences, and coping strategies including avoidance. Written in a friendly and explanatory way, this guide is a comprehensive source of information for those with PTSD (and their friends and family). The concepts are explained in an easily digestible manner, with case examples and accessible diagrams. Arabic and English .
The Multicultural Mental Health Resource Centre (MMHRC) seeks to improve the quality and availability of mental health services for people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including immigrants, refugees, and members of established ethnocultural communities. Addressing issues of language, culture, religion and other aspects of cultural diversity can promote greater equity in mental health care.
The links below provide mental health information in Arabic. These documents – easy to download – are intended for individuals interested in learning more about mental health and ways of improving emotional well being.
The IFRC is deeply concerned about protection and humanitarian assistance for children on the move. This is heighted by data that shows the number of children on the move, including unaccompanied and separated children, has grown substantially in the past decade.7 There are an estimated 50,000 million children on the move worldwide.8 Whether they are labelled as “migrants”, “refugees”, “displaced persons”, “trafficked”, or “stateless” there are numerous threats that are be faced by girls and boys on the move in their home countries, in transit, and at their destination countries.
Additionally, you can find these resources in Arabic.
The ‘Communicating with children about death and helping children cope with grief’ resource provides guidance for adults on communicating with children about death and helping them cope with grief. Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it highlights how children of different ages experience loss and grief, how to talk to them about it and how to help them cope with loss during the pandemic and humanitarian emergencies.
Additionally, you can find these resources in different language:Arabic , English , French , Ukrainian , Spanish , Portuguese , Fulfulde , Swahili , Italian , Filipino , Russian , Indonesian , Hausa , Bengali , Turkish .
This one-pager can assist Red Cross Red Crescent staff and volunteers who work with Restoring Family Links (RFL), or giving support to people in need dealing with having a family member who is missing.
Additionally, you can find these resources in different language: French, Arabic, Greek
This one-pager can assist Red Cross Red Crescent staff and volunteers who work with Restoring Family Links (RFL), or giving support to people in need; navigating having a family member who is missing.
Additionally, you can find these resources in different language: Arabic, French, Greek.