Health Care of Torture Survivors

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Despite attempts by the world community to address human rights violations, torture and ill treatment were practiced in 132 countries in 1999.1 Unfortunately, physicians are known to have been involved in torture, both by assessing prisoners before and during torture, and also by falsifying medical certificates and autopsy reports.2 With rapid globalization and increasing international travel, physicians in developed countries will encounter growing numbers of torture survivors. However, many physicians may not be comfortable raising issues of physical abuse3 and survivors, for their part, may find the clinical setting to be reminiscent of prior experiences of torture.4 In this article, we present an approach to identifying and caring for survivors of torture.