The thousands of human beings who have already been through the severe pain of torture also face a range of devastating long-term consequences. In particular, survivors of torture frequently experience chronic pain, headaches, insomnia, nightmares, depression, flashbacks, anxiety, and panic attacks, and can become overwhelmed by feelings of fear, helplessness and even guilt because of what happened to them. Feelings of shame and a loss of dignity on the part of torture victims are often compounded by stigmatisation in the community and social isolation. Post-traumatic stress disorder affects both the victims themselves and their families. If left untreated, the consequences of torture can extend throughout a person’s life-time and even beyond, across generations, having a corrosive effect upon entire societies.
The crime of enforced disappearance is as unacceptable today as it was decades ago when it first came to the attention of the international community, and there are neither reasons nor circumstances that can ever be invoked to justify it, said Suela Janina, Chair of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
A disappearance has a doubly paralysing impact: on the victims, frequently tortured and in constant fear for their lives, and on their families, ignorant of the fate of their loved ones, their emotions alternating between hope and despair, wondering and waiting, sometimes for years, for news that may never come.
APDP is a collective of relatives of victims of enforced and involuntary disappearances in Kashmir. Disappearances often end in extra-judicial killings or death by torture. The APDP was formed in 1994 to organize efforts to seek justice and get information on the whereabouts of missing family members. It presently consists of family members of about one thousand victims. APDP actively campaigns for an end to the practice and international crime of involuntary and enforced disappearances at local, national and international platforms.
This publication speaks about enforced disappearances and underscores the important issue of human rights concerns globally.
Enforced disappearances have been a well known to Sri Lanka before, during and the `post´ conflict scenario. However, from time to time we have had large scale disappearances becoming widely used since the 1980s onwards, connected to the politico-military situation and in local areas of the country.
Disappearances are a tragedy not just for the individual but also for families, who are left in the dark. Not knowing what has become of a husband or wife, child, father, mother, brother or sister is a source of terrible anguish for countless families affected by armed conflict or internal violence all over the world.
This report analyzes States obligations under international law to ensure acts of enforced disappearance constitute a distinct, autonomous offence under national law. It also provides an overview of the practice of enforced disappearance, focusing specifically on the status of the criminalization of the practice, in five South Asian countries: India,Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
This guideline provides recommendations aimed primarily at front-line health-care providers (e.g. general practitioners, nurses, paediatricians, gynaecologists) providing care to children, including adolescents up to the age of 18 years, who have, or may have, experienced sexual abuse, including sexual assault or rape. It can also be useful for other cadres of specialist healthcare providers who are likely to see children or adolescents.
Gender-based violence (GBV) represents a major cause of psychological morbidity worldwide, and particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although there are effective treatments for common mental disorders associated with GBV, they typically require lengthy treatment programs that may limit scaling up in LMICs. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a new 5-session behavioural treatment called Problem Management Plus (PM+) that lay community workers can be taught to deliver
HRA is a human rights organization based in Berkeley, California. We are dedicated to promoting and protecting international human rights in the United States and abroad. HRA addresses the panoply of human rights issues, including minority and bodies on the human rights aspects of such issues as: minority and peoples rights; the rights of the child; juvenile criminal sentencing; trafficking in women and children; migrant worker rights; the right to housing; the right to food; affirmative action; corporate accountability; and human rights and the environment.
The first ever pan-Arab training guide on practical ways to engage men and boys in the fight to end violence against women throughout the region, titled Women and Men Hand in Hand Against Violence, was unveiled in Beirut at a high-level event. This training resource was developed for use in Arab countries to teach the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to promote gender equality and prevent violence against women (VAW) through the effective engagement of men. It explores the concepts surrounding VAW, what factors are involved, and the consequences of VAW (pdf, 168 pages – also available in Arabic).
Under international human rights law, persons who suffer violations of their human rights have the right to effective remedies and reparation for the harm they have suffered. Gaining access to justice for acts of gender-based violence is important to secure relief at the individual level, but also to promote change at the systemic level in terms of laws and practice. This Practitioners Guide seeks to assist lawyers and other human rights advocates, but ultimately it is designed to benefit the women on whose behalf lawyers and advocates act and who are seeking justice .
Coping skills can be understood as resources that are available and that the person is capable of utilising in challenging situations.
For the last few decades, the prevailing approach to sexual violence in international human rights instruments has focused virtually exclusively on the abuse of women and girls. In the meantime, men have been abused and sexually humiliated during situations of armed conflict. Childhood sexual abuse of boys is alarmingly common.
Sexual violence is one of the most horrific weapons of war, an instrument of terror used against women. Yet huge numbers of men are also victims. In this harrowing report, Will Storr travels to Uganda to meet traumatised survivors, and reveals how male rape is endemic in many of the world’s conflicts. Of all the secrets of war, there is one that is so well kept that it exists mostly as a rumour. It is usually denied by the perpetrator and his victim. Governments, aid agencies and human rights defenders at the UN barely acknowledge its possibility.
Sexual violence against men has garnered increasing publicity in recent years but still remains extremely under-researched and under-reported. This paper will examine the challenges facing male victims of sexual violence. The paper will look at the broad international framework, including definitions of sexual violence and international jurisprudence in the area as well as generally looking at how the term sexual or gender-based violence has come to be associated with violence against women (the article can be found on page 7).
Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against men and boys has generally been mentioned as a footnote in reports. There are no detailed statistics on the number of male victims of SGBV but, the phenomenon is increasingly being recognized as a protection concern in conflict and forced displacement situations. Despite the prevailing taboo, there had been progress over the last decade in reporting of incidents.
As a result of ongoing conflict, poverty and instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese men and women have been subjected to various forms of sexual violence by warring rebel militia, government forces, and noncombatants. Most humanitarian aid, money, and international attention supports female victims of sexual violence, but male victims are largely left in the shadows. Simplified narratives of gender violence often define men as villains and women as victims. This narrative aligns with traditional conceptions of gender roles; however, the oversimplification often leaves male victims overlooked by policy responses designed to address sexual violence.
Sexual violence against men is one of the least told aspects of war. Yet men and boys are victims too of abuse that is frequently more effective at destroying lives and tearing communities apart than guns alone. It can take the form of anal and oral rape, genital torture, castration, gang rape, sexual slavery and the forced rape of others. It is so taboo that few survivors have the courage to tell their story. Besides feeling ashamed and afraid of being ostracised, many victims dare not challenge powerful myths about male rape in their cultures, experts say. A common belief is that a man who is raped becomes a woman.
Sexual violence occurs in times of peace and of war. It takes place within committed relationships and between strangers, between people of any gender and sexuality, and for reasons that can be complex. However, despite common misconceptions, it is widely accepted amongst academics and charities that rape and other forms of sexual offences are usually about dominance and control rather than sexual gratification; a form of physical violence that has the power to fundamentally undermine the victims confidence and self-identity. Because of this, sexual violence is a common feature of war zones. As armies or militias struggle to assert their dominance, civilians within contested areas often find themselves subjected to widespread sexual abuse. The result is fear, humiliation and trauma.
Sexual violence is a tactic of war, used to humiliate, dominate and instill fear. It is also increasingly being used as a tactic of terrorism. While the focus has largely been on women and girls as victims of sexual violence, boys and men are equally at risk. Sexual violence against men and boys takes on a range of heinous acts, including anal and oral rape, genital torture, castration and coercion to rape others. Many of these acts are seen as emasculating, and while many male victims are willing to give accounts of what they witnessed, they are less likely to express what they themselves had experienced in conflict (webpage).
Sexual violence against men in Uganda is an underreported crime. Sexual violence against men is considered a taboo in most cultures. It is an issue not talked about because many consider the rape of men nearly impossible. It is clear that men have also been victims of rape in armed conflicts all over the world. The laws that define rape should be revised to include men and boys as victims of rape.
If you are a man who experienced sexual assault, you are not alone. At least 1 out of every 10 men will experience sexual assault at some point in their life. Learn about sexual trauma in men, common reactions and what you can do to recover.
Throughout 2015, WRC conducted a research in urban settings, the first phase of a multi-year project to improve the humanitarian communitys understanding of and response to GBV risks in urban contexts. Quito, Ecuador; Beirut, Lebanon; Kampala, Uganda; and Delhi, India, were chosen because they are host to diverse refugee populations, have different policy environments for refugees, and are at different stages of humanitarian response. The project looked separately at the GBV risks of different urban refugee subpopulations: women; children and adolescents; LGBTI individuals; persons with disabilities; and male survivors of sexual violence.
Here you can search for different Human Rights Council reports by session. Several of the reports are translated to Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, French, English and Russian.
Background: Some evidence showed that multidisciplinary rehabilitation in Western countries is effective for treating war-related trauma, but it remains unclear whether this approach is applicable to civilians living in resource-poor countries affected by war. In 201214, Danish Institute against Torture (DIGNITY) conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT), in partnership with Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims (KRCT), to examine the effects of ultidisciplinary intervention among victims of torture and war in Kosovo.(BioMedCentral open access)
The purpose of the workshop is to improve the skills of media professionals and communication officers in reporting gender-based violence in humanitarian crisis settings; to enhance the quality of reporting by instilling ethical principles; and to increase awareness among the general population and decision makers of the importance of gender-based violence as a health and human rights problem and its common occurrence.
The guide is designed to support legal practitioners and human rights defenders involved, or interested, in pursuing cases of gender-based violence. Lasting change to address the root causes of violence against women can only take place as part of a coordinated effort on behalf of multiple stakeholders, however the ICJ believes that legal practitioners and human rights defenders are indispensable to addressing the problem and realizing women access to justice.
The Resilience Programme for Young Men focuses specifically on the needs of young men, featuring activities that support increased self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-perception, all vital to psychosocial wellbeing. It aims to strengthen social interaction, creativity and peer support by encouraging good communication, group collaboration, mutual trust, respect, understanding and valuing of differences. These are key elements for young men in creating a better life for themselves and their communities.
The strengthening of international criminal law through an increased focus on the right to reparation and rehabilitation for victims of crimes against humanity is an important challenge to health professionals, particularly in the field of trauma research and treatment. A brief outline of developments within international law and justice is presented, with a focus on the right to reparation including the means for rehabilitation. The active presence of trauma-informed health professionals is a priority. The issues raised within the context of states obligations to provide and ensure redress and rehabilitation to those subjected to torture are discussed, and in particular how rehabilitation can be understood and responded to by health professionals.
How do we deal with the issue of victims of torture so that litigation is a healing process per se? How do we provide comprehensive support in their search for justice and truth? Answering these questions is an objective of this book, which presents a review of the question of torture and its consequences with respect to litigation before the inter-American system for the protection of human rights. Our intention, on the one hand, is to emphasize the psychological and social dimensions of acts of torture and, on the other, to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue that would promote a broad perspective that captures the different aspects of this painful and complex reality.
Due to the armed conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s many families escaped to other countries. The main goal of this study was to explore in more detail the complexity of various family members experiences and perceptions from their life before the war, during the war and the escape, and during their new life in Sweden. There is insufficient knowledge of refugee families perceptions, experiences and needs, and especially of the complexity of family perspectives and family systems. This study focused on three families from Bosnia and Herzegovina who came to Sweden and were granted permanent residence permits. The families had at least one child between 5 and 12 years old.
To understand psychiatric home visits in Palestine necessitates forgoing Western assumptions about patient confidentiality, privacy, and timeliness. Though individual patients often refer themselves to treatment centers after a release from prison, the difficulty of traveling to and from major cities requires therapists to make home visits. Families then participate in the session as a group, thereby coming to better understand their family members situation and relieving some of their own symptoms as well.
One of the little-asked questions in debates over the death penalty is what happens to the children of the offender. The arrest, sentencing and (potential)execution of a parent affect children greatly, but they receive little consideration and less support.
While the conflict in Syria rages on, one psychiatrist and several psychologists, all of them Syrian refugees, have founded Syria Bright Future, a volunteer organisation that provides psychosocial and mental health services to Syrian refugees in Jordan. This field report describes how the organisation assists families in settling after their harsh journey, in adapting to new living conditions and circumstances, coping with difficulties they encounter and strengthening their resilience. Syria Bright Future does this by providing short term support and counselling, and by referring individuals and families to other international and Jordanian organisations, or to informal support networks of Syrian refugees for further assistance.
In 2007, the IASC published the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in Emergency Settings to enable humanitarian actors to plan, establish and coordinate a set of minimum multi-sectoral responses to protect and improve peoples mental health and psychosocial well-being in the midst of an emergency. This review looks at the level of implementation of the Guidelines and supplementary tools, and the mainstreaming and integration of the Guidelines across the humanitarian system since the Guidelines were first published. The results are based on key informant interviews, extensive document review, and an on-line survey. In addition, implementation is explored in specific emergency contexts through a combination of in-depth and brief case studies.
This practical guide aims at providing torture rehabilitation centres and other NGOs involved in anti-torture activities with easily accessible and practical advice on how to most effectively engage with and contributeto country visits by the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture(SPT) to promote relevant and high quality outcomes from the visit.
Action Against Torture. This guide is intended as an auxiliary instrument to the Istanbul Protocol and has been developed as a source of practical reference for lawyers engaged in the investigation and documentation of cases of alleged torture.
Concluding observations on the combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Norway, adopted by the Committee at its forty-ninth session (29 October to 23 November 2012). It conformed fully with the requirements laid down in the Committee`s reporting guidelines. It provided information, article by article, on new measures to implement the Convention taken since the submission of its last report and answered questions raised during the discussion of the fourth periodic report. The Committee also thanks the delegation for its oral information and its frank and precise replies to the questions raised by members of the Committee.
The complex interrelationship between torture and poverty has been the subject of growing interest in recent years in line with the global recognition that all human rights, including civil and political and socio-economic rights, are ‘universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated’ and there has long been acknowledgement of its significance for the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.
The experiences of persons affected by gross human rights violations during the dictatorship in Argentina, with regard to economic reparations for their suffering and losses, were explored. Thirty-seven participants were interviewed, 35 of whom were survivors and/or family members of persons seriously affected by the violence during the period from 1976 to 1983. Economic reparations form part of the Argentine states efforts to deal with the atrocities of the past, with such reparations constituting one of the transitional justice mechanisms implemented.
This module provides guidelines for adjudicating and considering immigration benefits, petitions, protections, or other immigration-related requests by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex, (LGBTI) individuals. The module addresses the legal analysis of claims that involve LGBTI applicants as well as related interviewing considerations.
A bi-monthly magazine on the issue of torture. Torture is often used by authoritarian regimes as a means of maintaining control and suppressing dissent. Our policy is against any form of torture and creates a common platform to everyone in Asia and around the globe, to come forward to speak out against torture. ISSN 2304-134X (print) | ISSN 2304-1358 (online)
German Association of Psychosocial Centres for Refugees and Victims of Torture. ed. Elise Bittenbinder We want to show that behind the anonymous figures are people many of them survivors of torture trying to start a new life after horrific experiences that have changed their lives and left them with scars that might never heal. Some of them need help and rehabilitation in order to be able to dare to trust in themselves and others again and to find a new sense in life. If we want data, it’s not primarily to measure the level of “threat” which the numbers of refugees pose to our societies, but to help us provide better services for them
In humanitarian emergencies and conflict situations psychological damage has traditionally not been addressed, its extent and impact have not been well studied. It is only through a greater focus of mental health problems as a result of war and conflict, can coherent and effective strategies for dealing with such problems be developed.
These guidelines and the contribution to the Inter Agency Standing Committee Guidelines, Mental Health: Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings is written to share our technical experiences, to help colleagues and other humanitarian workers to avoid repeating the mistakes we have made. We do not claim that our intervention model is the only way to approach psychosocial or mental health problems in areas of conflict. We realise the limitations and opportunities of our organisations specific medical, humanitarian emergency origin as well as the specificity of our experiences.
This toolkit was designed in collaboration with religious leaders from countries around the world for women and men of faith working at the community, national or international level. The toolkit offers religious leaders, faith communities and Inter-religious Councils the tools to carry out awareness, prevention advocacy programs to help bring an end to violence against women.
Futures Group, Health Policy Initiative, Task Order 1.Women of faith have called attention to gender-based violence in their communities, citing a need for religious leaders to raise awareness of the issue and address it. Religious leaders and women of faith are well positioned to identify, validate, and promote best practices on preventing and reducing GBV as it relates to HIV.
FGM is a reproductive health and human rights concern that has devastating short-term and long-term impacts on the lives of women and girls. The procedure is risky and life-threatening for the girl both during the procedure and throughout thecourse of her life. FGM is considered a harmful practice and a form of violence against women.
This Guide is a collaborative effort to help ensure that international and regional legal norms for the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment are universally respected and implemented. Governments, lawyers and civil society actors must be aware of what acts qualify as torture or ill-treatment, as well as the full scope of the obligations undertaken by the State to prevent, investigate and punish torture. Standards must be consistently applied at the international, regional and national levels to ensure equal protection for everyone. This Guide aims to answer such questions as what constitutes torture, who should be held responsible when ill-treatment occurs, when a State must investigate allegations of abuse, and how detainees should be treated.
Natural disasters can be especially traumatic for children and youth. Experiencing a dangerous or violent flood, storm, or earthquake is frightening even for adults, and the devastation to the familiar environment (i.e., home and community) can be long lasting and distressing .
Ebola virus disease outbreaks have a significant impact on the wellbeing of those affected, their family, community members and the health workers treating people with Ebola. This guide focuses on, which involves humane, supportive and practical help to fellow human beings suffering serious crisis events. It is written for people who can help others experiencing an extremely distressing event.
This thematic report aims to provide an analysis of the current practices of torture and ill-treatment in Ecuador as they are experienced by PRIVA in our work with rehabilitation of torture victims. From the statistics and cases in this report, it is clear that torture and ill-treatment is still a prevalent practice committed against persons in custody of either the police or the social rehabilitation centres. Further, impunity for such crimes is upheld due to a reluctance with the judicial authorities to conduct prompt, effective, independent and impartial investigations when credible allegations surface. Furthermore, torture is often not reported due to a lack of right awareness, insufficient financial capacity and fear of reprisals on the side of the victims.
This report builds on the presentations and discussions of the Americas Regional Experts Meeting on the Law and Practice on Torture, as well as information shared by experts on the basis of their expertise and experience in litigation and advocacy on torture related issues. The participants completed a questionnaire regarding the law and practice of torture in their jurisdiction and made presentations at the meeting covering national practice as well as thematic issues. The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange information and experiences on litigating torture cases and advocating legal and institutional reforms.
In the third installment of Evaluating Asylum Seekers, Sampsonia Way speaks to Dr. Arno Vosk, an advisor to a medical student clinic at the University of Pennsylvania. I find it incredible that people who have endured such suffering in their home countries should find it so difficult to get refuge in the United States.
Although a lot has been learnt already about practical ways in which adults and children who have been trafficked can be protected and assisted, much less attention has been given in recent years to drawing lessons about what techniques succeed in preventing trafficking from occurring. As a result, donors seem reluctant to invest money in efforts to prevent child trafficking, even though they are familiar with the old adage, prevention is better than cure. Giving prevention more attention means improving the quality of preventive work, as well as increasing the amount of work being done. This handbook is a contribution towards that improvement, distilling some of the lessons which have already been learnt by many different organisations.
A situation analysis on Child Protection in the Philippines commissioned by the Save the Children Child Protection Initiative (CPI ) that could be used to guide the development of child protection interventions under CPI’s priority areas, which include: Children without appropriate care; Child protection in emergencies; and Child labour. The CPI initiative aims to upgrade the capacities of local authorities and municipalities to improve the wellbeing of disadvantaged children and increase the level of knowledge of policies and programmes that address critical child issues, such as abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence.
This study contributes to a growing body of literature examining the experience of child soldiers by gender. In particular it provides quantitative data on rates of war experiences among male and female CAAFAG to shed light on important differences and similarities. This study emphasizes that children’s psychosocial adjustment must be considered in light of war experiences, post-conflict resources and gender (, .pdf.).
Organised violence and torture has been documented in all the last three decades of Zimbabwe’s history, as was indicated earlier.vii One study showed that 1 adult in 10 over the age of 30 years reported torture and was suffering from a clinically significant psychological disorder as a consequence,viii and high rates of torture and consequent psychological disorder were found in a study of former guerrilla soldiers from the Liberation War of the 1970s. The paper was originally put together to stimulate and deepen discussion at the workshop on healing held at Mandel Centre, Harare in July (2011) and should be read in conjunction with the workshop report where the experience and ideas of participants are recorded.