The report states that 142 million children are living in high-intensity conflict zones, with many more millions forced to abscond as refugees. More than 24 million children exposed to conflict today are likely to encounter mild to moderate mental health problems yet, as Save the Children rightly contends, the global response to mental health support continues to be regrettably inadequate
The latest issue of the Torture Journal examines sleep deprivation as a method of torture and presents the text of a Protocol on Medico-Legal Documentation of Sleep Deprivation. Finally, this issue also comprises an epidemiological study on knowledge of torture among medical professionals in Tanzania, a case report exemplifying narratives of Tamil survivors of sexual torture in Australia, and a debate on the standing of the Istanbul Protocol in Israel.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that the number of women and girls being trafficked from Ivory Coast has been rising. Many of them reportedly suffer abuse, slavery and prostitution — both in North Africa and Europe.By
Millions in Syria and Yemen fleeing relentless conflict, the Rohingya seeking refuge in Bangladesh, girls abducted in Nigeria, Venezuelans driven by economic collapse into Brazil — today’s crises are becoming more widespread, complex and protracted and they continue to take a disproportionate toll on women and girls. War, human rights violations, underdevelopment, climate change and natural disasters are driving people to leave their homes in unprecedented numbers.Humanitarian crises produce psychological suffering and trauma that threaten the health and well-being of affected people, and erode global efforts for peace building and recovery. In 2019, nearly 143 million people needed humanitarian aid and protection. UNFPA estimates that more than 35 million are women and girls of reproductive age.
Boys and girls are bearing a disproportionate burden of modern conflict. Latest figures reveal that 142 million children are living in high intensity conflict zones1 and millions more have been forced to flee as refugees, often to unstable settings in other countries. Since 2010, the number of children living in conflict zones has increased by 37%, yet the number of verified grave violations against them – including killing and maiming, recruitment into armed forces and sexual violence – has increased by 174%.
“When ISIS took over our town, the fighting got worse. I always felt tired and stressed. I feel so much older than I am because of the war. I feel like an old woman even though I am 16.” Safaa, 16, Syria
The increasing reach of the internet, the rapid spread of mobile information, and the widespread use of social media, coupled with the existing pandemic of violence against women and girls (VAWG), has led to the emergence of cyber VAWG as a growing global problem with potentially significant economic and societal consequences.
Maybe we confuse compassion with empathy. We are perhaps compassionate but it is hard for us to be empathic? This excellent animated film helps us to differentiate them. The power of empathy is an animated film that explains the difference between empathy and compassion. We are not always able to connect with other people’s emotions when they show and communicate their emotions, especially negative ones. Showing compassion causes people to distance themselves because they feel we don’t understand. However, when empathy take place, it connects with people. They feel heard and understood in their pain. Click here to see the animation
Child soldiers world index is the first-ever online global database mapping child recruitment practices, laws and policies of all 197 UN Member States. This global map visualises trends in the military exploitation of children, if you click on any country you see full details of the national legal framework, policies and practices, which armed groups recruit children, number of children reported etc. It is a valuable source of research and shows the seriousness of the situation of children in the world.
A new report by the Center for Victims of Torture and Physicians for Human Rights reveals that the experiences of detainees and independent civilian medical experts with medical care at the Guantánamo Bay detention center not only broadly refute the claim that detainees receive care equivalent to that of U.S. service members, but also evidence specific violations of the Nelson Mandela Rules, the universally recognized UN standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners, which the United States has championed. Guantánamo should be closed. Unless and until that happens, the Center for Victims of Torture and Physicians for Human Rights call upon Congress, the executive branch, and the courts to adopt a series of recommendations aimed at meaningfully improving the status quo.
This article addresses the standards that apply to the detention of migrant children under international human rights law. First I explore the standards of care for children based on binding US treaty obligations; then I take up the question that the minimum standards debate has sidelined – whether it is appropriate to keep migrant children in detention at all.
“Human Rights are of crucial importance to everyone in the world, psychologists included”. With this statement the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA, 2013) called for psychologists and their associations to engage in protection and promotion of human rights. EFPA aims to connect psychology with Human Rights in a way that psychology becomes more useful to the Human Rights agenda and Human Rights become an indispensable dimension of psychology.
Why coordination matters now? In the wake of horrific accounts of Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies (GBViE) that span the globe, the voices of survivors have galvanized the international community to work towards the elimination of GBV. The protection and safety of women and girls can be achieved only through coordinated, collective and sustained action. We know good coordination of interventions works and pays direct humanitarian dividends. Only through effective coordination can we bridge any gaps, address persistent challenges and make progress against common objectives. Specifically, GBV coordination ensures that every humanitarian response, from the earliest phases of a crisis, provides safe and comprehensive life-saving services for GBV survivors and mitigates the risks of GBV. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate GBV in all settings and make progress towards peace, security and human rights.
In the work of making resources on mental health more easily available to professionals and others working with people exposed to human rights violations in disaster, war and conflict, Health and Human Rights Info (HHRI) has received contributions and support from a large group of people. Since its beginning in the early 2000s, psychologists and psychiatrists and other professionals working in different contexts around the world have been involved in ensuring that the material in the database may be of use in the field and has a good ethical and professional standard.
Torture Journal examines the impact of forensic documentation of torture in diverse settings around the world and identifies innovative rehabilitation approaches. Fresh research and perspectives on sport-based rehabilitation, as well as other key topics, also comprise the issue.
The most serious security threats are mainly experienced in areas that are most affected by the internal conflict. This is clear from the latest UN Human Rights Council report about the situation in Colombia. The report finds that lacking implementation of the peace agreement is one of the main reasons for the continued occurrence of death threats against social leaders in the country.
Human trafficking between Africa and Europe has not only thrived in recent years, it has grown into a highly abusive system involving corrupt elites and political networks. Jan Philipp-Scholz, the author of a new book on the migration business, has spoken with migrants in Africa on nearly every step of their journey. Their testimonies reveal the extent of abuse and human rights violations happening on Europe’s doorstep.
What would justice look like in the conflicts in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia? What would we expect it to achieve? For more than two decades, the field of transitional justice has sought to answer such questions. Transitional justice is generally understood as a package of measures including criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations for victims and reform of abusive institutions.
This text explores the profound impact of war and genocide on human psychology with a focus on Cambodia and the work of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Interdisciplinary in nature, this edited volume presents the current research on the impact of trauma not only on survivors’ mental health processes but also on the ability of survivors to participate in legal processes, such as the trials of surviving members of the Khmer Rouge before the ECCC.
Southeast Asia contains high numbers of traumatised populations arising from either natural disasters or interpersonal violence. Consequently, empirically based trauma treatments, addressing traumatic sequelae in local populations was needed. Trauma Aid Germany, trained 37 therapists in psycho-traumatology, based on EMDR Therapy, which included trauma stabilisation techniques. This research analysed the impact of Trauma Stabilisation as a sole treatment intervention for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in adults and revealed that it was highly effective in alleviating PTSD diagnoses. Results demonstrate PTSD symptoms were reduced in both clinical and sub-clinical trauma groups. The data set suggests trauma stabilisation, as a sole treatment intervention, was safe, effective, efficient and sufficient treatment intervention for PTSD.
The final report evaluates reparations awarded by courts in the DRC to survivors of sexual violence, and the extent to which these reparations are being implemented. First, the report introduces the mobile court system and other judicial institutions that address sexual violence, specifically in Eastern DRC. Second, the report examines barriers to the implementation of reparations awarded by these courts. Third, the report offers recommendations to the international community to help ensure the payment of reparations to victims in the DRC and strengthen their access to justice.
Where there is population displacement, there are risks of separation of family members. Even during this emergency, all children have a right to a family and families have a right to care for their children. Services should be provided to families to encourage them to stay together, rather than seek alternative care options for children whilst families struggle to meet their needs. Unaccompanied and separated children should be provided with services aimed at reuniting them with their parents or customary caregivers as quickly as possible.
The guideline is based on global research on child sexual abuse and evidence from field practice. The CCS Resource Package brings a much needed comprehensive and practical approach to helping child survivors and their families
recover and heal from the impacts of sexual abuse.
This book’s goal is to dialogue with the large and growing community of professionals, government officials, activists, and academics who are engaged in our region to promote the work of confronting the authoritarian or violent past of our countries. Latin America has become, in fact, one of the most dynamic areas in the search for routes to transitional justice in recent decades.
The Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development is a comprehensive synthesis of knowledge on global mental health, designed to catalyse worldwide action. It builds on the 2007 and 2011 The Lancet series on global mental health that helped make mental health care a greater priority worldwide. The ultimate goal of the Commission is to guide action to reduce the global burden of mental health problems. The Commission should give fresh impetus to the prioritisation of mental health, helping ensure physical and mental health are valued equally by the global health and development communities. The Commission has three unique guiding principles: – our approach to mental health covers the full spectrum of mental health from day-to-day wellness to long-term, disabling conditions. – mental health is the product of psychosocial, environmental, biological and genetic factors interacting with neurodevelopmental processes. – mental health should be respected as a fundamental right.
This manual has been developed to help stabilise symptoms in people who have experienced traumatic events. Their need is first of all to obtain skills to deal with their symptoms. They need to recognise that the painful events are no longer happening, to acquire a sense of safety in the present and to gain more perceived control over thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations. The manual can be used as a first-stage intervention prior to processing traumatic events.
This book is primarily intended for health and legal professionals who work with or are likely to come into contact with torture survivors, but anyone with an interest in the question of torture will find useful insights. These short articles provide an array of illuminating and readable perspectives on different aspects of a complicated subject. Together they comprise an excellent introduction to the many challenges and opportunities associated with the task of establishing medical evidence in cases of alleged torture.
Recalling that the protection of women and girls is primarily the responsibility of States, whose full and effective cooperation, action and political resolve are required to enable UNHCR to fulfil its mandated functions; and that all action on behalf of women and girls must be guided by obligations under relevant international law, including, as applicable, international refugee law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law (for historical reference).
The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been characterised by the widespread and systematic perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence. Rape has been committed by all actors in the conflict, including those operating in the Ituri region of the country, and the use of rape by Lubangas Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) in particular has been widely reported and documented by the UN and NGOs alike.
The exact proportions of sexual violence are impossible to measure, yet MSFs medical data reveals that it is a problem of alarming proportions. Information provided by our patients reveals the high risk of sexual violence throughout the migration process, with survivors experiencing rape and other forms of sexual violence by numerous different perpetrators in their countries of origin, in route and in Morocco itself.
Although women, young people and refugees are vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) worldwide, little evidence exists concerning SGBV against refugees in Europe. Using community-based participatory research, 223 in-depth interviews were conducted with refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in Belgium and the Netherlands. Responses were analysed using framework analysis.
In Europe, refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants are more vulnerable to sexual victimisation than European citizens. They face more challenges when seeking care. This literature review examines how legal and policy frameworks at national, European and international levels condition the prevention of and response to sexual violence affecting these vulnerable migrant communities living in the European Union.
For the first time since World War II, Europe is experiencing a massive movement of refugees and migrants, women, girls, men and boys of all ages, fleeing armed conflicts, mass killings, persecution and pervasive sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Many seek refuge in Europe from the ongoing armed conflicts that have torn apart their societies, and are entitled to protection under the (1951) Refugee Convention, its subsequent Protocol, and other international instruments.
For the first time since World War II, Europe is experiencing a massive movement of refugees and migrants, women, girls, men and boys of all ages, fleeing armed conflicts, mass killings, persecution and pervasive sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Many seek refuge in Europe from the ongoing armed conflicts that have torn apart their societies, and are entitled to protection under the (1951) Refugee Convention, its subsequent Protocol, and other international instruments.
The report finds that women are vulnerable a bottleneck points along the route, and even more vulnerable when they reach reception centres that do not have secure and separate sleeping areas for women. Women also experience sexual violence at alarming rates and there is currently 100% impunity for gender-based crimes committed against refugee women. High numbers of refugee women are pregnant with no access to pre- or post-natal care.
An estimated 60 to 80 percent of female migrants from Central America are sexually assaulted on their journeyand perpetrators often act with total impunity. As thousands of Central American women weigh the risks of migrating to the US each year, they must take into account an extra peril: An estimated 80 percent of female migrants from Central America are victims of sexual abuse at the hands of criminal groups, human smugglers, or corrupt officials during the journey.
The objective of this overview is to present the issue of sexual violence (SV) against refugee women and girls and to discuss countermeasures that have been suggested or initiated by the Member States of the WHO European Region and national nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) between January (2015) and May 2016. A literature review was undertaken using Google scholar, the WHO publication database and a cross-search of journal databases.
In this paper, “Women in detention” is addressed to monitoring bodies responsible for the external scrutiny of places of deprivation of liberty. It outlines the risks faced by women deprived of their liberty of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment and measures that can be taken to reduce such risks.
Women migrants fleeing wars, political instability and poverty are taking contraceptives in the expectation of being raped but are so desperate they still embark on the journey, a human rights group said on Wednesday.
Each year, countless women and children flee violence at home and take an uncertain journey in the hope of finding safety in a new country. While many escape conflict zones or generalized human-rights abuses, some also run from more intimate forms of violence namely, sexual and domestic violence perpetrated by men. Setting off on the journey is no guarantee of safety; many are vulnerable to gender-based abuse in transit and even at destination.
A relatively new area of the literature on human response to trauma, particularly the trauma experienced during sexual violence, is that of tonic immobility. Defined as self-paralysis, or as the inability to move even when not forcibly restrained, tonic immobility has long been studied in non-human animals as the freeze response to extreme stress.
In states of high stress, fear or terror like combat and sexual assault, the prefrontal cortex is impaired sometimes even effectively shut down by a surge of stress chemicals.
Why are memories of sexual assault so often fragmentary and confusing? The answer has big implications for people who’ve been sexually assaulted, for those who investigate and prosecute such crimes, and for everyone else who knows or works with someone who’s been sexually assaulted.
Dr. Campbell discuss the research on the neurobiology of trauma and the criminal justice system response to sexual assault. She will explain the underlying neurobiology of traumatic events, its emotional and physical manifestation, and how these processes can impact the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault.
Abuse is a traumatic experience. When a person experiences abuse, their responses to protect them in the short and longer term are instinctive. knowing how and why means that you can recognise these responses and be more effective in what you do.
This article provides an introduction to the impact of trauma on memory and recollection, including how traumatic events may affect an individual’s ability to recall or give proper sequence to details, including information that an objective observer (and even the victim/survivor/ complainant) would deem vital and seemingly unforgettable.
Active resistance is considered to be the ‘normal’ reaction during rape. However, studies have indicated that similar to animals, humans exposed to extreme threat may react with a state of involuntary, temporary motor inhibition known as tonic immobility. The aim of the present study was to assess the occurrence of tonic immobility during rape and subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.
Protection of the victims and witnesses and their participation in the proceedings
1. The Court shall take appropriate measures to protect the safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and witnesses. In so doing, the Court shall have regard to all relevant factors, including age, gender as defined in article 7, paragraph 3, and health, and the nature of the crime, in particular, but not limited to, where the crime involves sexual or gender violence or violence against children.
A Party to the conflict which violates the provisions of the Conventions or of this Protocol shall, if the case demands, be liable to pay compensation. It shall be responsible for all acts committed by persons forming part of its armed forces.
Each State party shall ensure to victims of torture an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation (article 14).
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Recalling the adoption of the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2005/35 of 19 April 2005 and by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 2005/30 of 25 July 2005, in which the Council recommended to the General Assembly that it adopt the Basic Principles and Guidelines.
As the civil war in Syria further deteriorates, accounts of systematic human rights abuses continue to emerge, including torture, starvation, and widespread sexual violence against civilians and combatants. More than five million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries in search of safety, yet they continue to face challenges of poverty, discrimination, as well as sexual violence and exploitation. Some attention has been given to women and girls who have suffered sexual violence in Syria and in displacement; however, less is known about male survivors, including ways to meet their needs.
Sexual violence is committed against men more frequently than is often thought. It is perpetrated at home, in the community and in prison; by men and by women; during conflict and in time of peace. It has been written that, in some respects, the situation facing male rape victims today is not so different from that which faced female victims, say, two centuries ago.
This paper considers contemporary issues in the refugee mental health field, including developments in research, conceptual models, social and psychological interventions, and policy. Prevalence data yielded by cross sectional epidemiological studies do not allow a clear distinction to be made between situational forms of distress and frank mental disorder, a shortcoming that may be addressed by longitudinal studies (WPA).
The objective of this paper is to review the methodological issues that arise when studying violence against women. The paper focuses first on the history of research on violence against women, by elaborating on each perspective. Second, the paper identifies and describes methodological difficulties when researching violence against women such as methodology, operational definitions of violence, sampling frame and risk factors related to violence. The paper also elaborates on major ethical principles that should be considered and respected when researching violence against women. Finally, the paper recommends certain changes that should be made in order to improve future research on the subject.
A wide range of advocates in areas of intimate partner violence and sex work; engineers, designers, developers, and academics working on IT ethics. The objectives of the day were threefold: (1) to better understand the lack of gender considerations in technology design, (2) to formulate critical questions for functional requirement discussions between advocates and developers of gender-based violence applications; and (3) establish a set of criteria by which new applications can be assessed from a gender perspective.
In many ways, researching violence against women is similar to researching other sensitive topics. There are issues of confidentiality, problems of disclosure, and the need to ensure adequate and informed consent. As the previous quote from an interviewer illustrates, however, there are aspects of gender-based violence research that transcend those in other areas becauseof the potentially threatening and traumatic nature of the subject matter. In the case of violence, the safety and even the lives of women respondents and interviewers may be at risk .
The sensitive nature of research on VAW requires special ethical and safety considerations. For example, how can researchers safely approach selection, recruitment and follow-up of participants in a study to evaluate the outcomes and impacts of an intervention to prevent violence? How do researchers address randomization of participants into control or intervention arms? How do researchers monitor and manage risk of violence from participation in the intervention? And what additional protections should be put in place when the research involves populations requiring special considerations, such as pregnant women?
Gender-based violence is a complicated and sensitive subject. Reporting on gender-based violence means discussing issues that are often considered taboo, and talking publicly about intimate and distressing matters. This can be particularly challenging in countries where tradition and religion play an important role in everyday life.
Ethics can be defined as a system or code of moral values that provides rules and standards of conduct. The three primary ethical principles that should guide all inquiries involving human beings (including methods used to collect information) are as follows: 1) Respect for persons, which relates to respecting the autonomy and self-determination of participants, and protecting those who lack autonomy, including by providing security from harm or abuse.