Center for Victims of Torture

Last updated
Center for Victims of Torture
Founded1985
FocusHealing, Training, Research, and Advocacy
Location
Area served
Global
LeaderDr. Simon Adams
Website cvt.org

The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) is an international non-profit headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota that provides direct care for those who have been tortured, trains partner organizations in the United States and around the world who can prevent and treat torture, conducts research to understand how best to heal survivors, and advocates for an end to torture.

Contents

CVT's mission is to heal the wounds of torture on individuals, their families and their communities, and to end torture worldwide and it has won the APA International Humanitarian Award from the American Psychological Association

Since its founding in 1985, CVT has:

CVT provides care for survivors at its healing center in St. Paul, Minnesota and at projects in Jordan, the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, Uganda and in northern Ethiopia working with Eritrean refugees. It has an office in Washington D.C.

The Center for Victims of Torture is a 501(c)(3) organization that is recognized by the Charities Review Council, [1] the American Institute of Philanthropy, [2] and Charity Navigator [3] for its well-managed use of donations.

History

CVT was founded as a result of actions by Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich. Gov. Perpich directed a committee of human rights experts to research various initiatives to support human rights in Minnesota. The most ambitious proposal from this group was a rehabilitation center for survivors of torture. Governor Perpich embraced the idea. He appointed a task force which traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, to visit the first treatment center in the world, the Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims (today known as DIGNITY - Danish Institute Against Torture). [4] [5] The task force recommended that such a center be established in Minnesota. [6] [7]

A Home for Healing

CVT was founded in 1985 as an independent, nongovernmental organization. For the first two years care was provided at the International Clinic of St. Paul Ramsey Medical Center. In 1987, CVT moved to a more home-like, less institutional setting that would feel welcoming to survivors. Today, CVT provides care from the St. Paul Healing Center. [8] The house was designed to meet the needs of torture survivors, with domestic furnishings, large windows and rooms with rounded or angled corners to create an environment much different from the stark, square rooms with glaring lights that most torture survivors experienced.

Expanding Healing Services

CVT's international work began in Bosnia and Croatia in 1993. During the war, CVT psychotherapists traveled to the region to train care providers in the specialized treatment of torture survivors. In 1995, CVT began working with centers in Turkey to strengthen the skills of medical professionals and nongovernmental organizations that work with survivors.

In 1999, CVT launched its first international direct healing program working with Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea, West Africa. They provided direct mental health counseling to refugees who were suffering from torture and trauma due to the multiple conflicts in the region. CVT psychotherapists also trained residents of the refugee camps as paraprofessional psychosocial peer counselors – peer mental health counselors – who continue to support a local mental health network after the program finished in 2005.

Supporting Rehabilitation Services for Survivors

CVT has launched a number of training initiatives to build more resources for appropriate and sensitive care of torture survivors. CVT provides training and technical assistance to torture survivor rehabilitation centers in the United States through a program called the National Capacity-Building project (NCB) [9] and abroad through its project Partners in Trauma Healing (PATH). [10] Training initiatives are designed to build a network of healing professionals where few exist, and for those who participate in a CVT training project to continue providing healing services long after CVT leaves a country.

Advocating for Survivors

CVT established a presence in Washington D.C. in 1992, with a volunteer representing CVT. At the time, CVT learned that the United States was withholding funds pledged to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, [11] an agency that provides financial support to torture survivor rehabilitation centers worldwide. CVT worked with faith-based groups and the human rights community to secure the release of nearly $400,000 – at the time, the largest contribution in the history of the UN Fund.

Since then, CVT continued to cultivate bipartisan support for healing survivors of torture. The Torture Victims Relief Act, originating with former Senator Dave Durenberger (R-MN), authorizes federal support for torture survivor rehabilitation programs in the U.S. and abroad. As a result of TVRA, since 2000 the United States has been the world's largest donor to torture survivor rehabilitation.

In 1998 CVT organized domestic centers into the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs and provides training on advocacy and building constituency.

In addition to seeking financial support for torture rehabilitation, CVT collaborated with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and Evangelicals for Human Rights to advocate against the use of torture by the U.S. government since September 11, 2001.

In 2021, CVT supported the Bivens bill in the United States House of Representatives that allows citizens to recover damages for constitutional violations committed against them by federal law enforcement officials, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ) and federal prison officials. [12]

Torture Survivor Rehabilitation

International Healing Services

CVT provides direct care to torture survivors in areas of the world where few mental health resources are available. Working in refugee camps and areas where conflict has devastated entire communities, CVT trains local community members to meet the mental health needs in their communities for the long term.

Healing Survivors of Torture and War

CVT provides counseling and community mental health activities to adults and children who suffered torture and war trauma. Most survivors receive small group counseling. These small groups meet weekly for about ten weeks, and, depending on the nature of the trauma, might be divided into different populations including adults, children, men and women, girls and boys.

Survivors with severe trauma symptoms receive private individual counseling, with many joining small group counseling when they are able. CVT international healing projects help an average of 1,600 torture and war trauma survivors each year.

Survivors receiving care from CVT are followed closely to measure their healing. CVT research consistently report significant decreases in mental health symptoms such as anxiety and depression, as well as decreases in somatic (physical) symptoms. Survivors also express more hope for the future and better relationships after receiving help from CVT.

Training Peer Counselors

In addition to providing direct mental health services, CVT trains members of the community and the refugee population to be skilled group counselors, advocates, educators and trainers. The goal is to develop mental health resources where none existed before. These paraprofessional mental health counselors undergo an intensive orientation and basic training period. Then they participate in small group counseling sessions with a professional psychotherapist experienced in torture and trauma recovery. Throughout their work with CVT, they receive ongoing professional training and daily mentoring with a professional psychotherapist modeling, observing and giving feedback after every counseling session and activity.

Former counselors trained by CVT have been hired by the International Criminal Court, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and other organizations where extensive mental health expertise is required.

Community Awareness

CVT conducts training and awareness-raising activities in the local communities, including teachers, religious and local leaders to help them understand the effects of torture on individuals and communities. CVT initiates non-counseling activities such as sports, games, drama, art and play therapy to engage the whole community in the healing process and reach out to survivors who could benefit from CVT services. Every year, thousands of community members learn of CVT through these activities.

Culturally Sensitive Care

A hallmark of CVT's international healing services is the combination of contemporary Western psychotherapy approaches with culturally appropriate methods of healing. This approach was adopted in its first international healing initiative in Guinea, where CVT psychotherapists and the peer counselors included ritual, storytelling and song in the healing process. That practice continues by adapting counseling to incorporate culturally appropriate traditions, concepts and customs into the healing process. The psychotherapists are highly skilled trauma therapists who have worked in culturally diverse environments.

CVT international healing projects are funded by the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, the European Union, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and USAID and the American people.

Minnesota Healing Services

In Minnesota all healing services are provided on an outpatient basis at CVT's St. Paul Healing Center. The Center is located in a renovated Victorian home to create a comfortable and welcoming environment.

Each survivor works with a team of specialists who provide:

For survivors who don't speak English, interpreters play an integral role in the healing process.

Stages of healing

Torture is an attack on all aspects of a person's life. Its effects reach beyond the individual to the family and the community. As part of the holistic healing approach, survivors in Minnesota receive individual and group counseling. The counseling addresses individual situations while helping survivors learn how to trust and rebuild relationships for a more fulfilling life. CVT's healing teams guide survivors through three stages of healing:

Support Services When a survivor is ready to reconnect with the community, volunteers provide important support services, such as teaching survivors how to read a bus schedule and navigate public transportation, tutoring survivors in English, accompanying survivors on visits to a museum, library, concert, coffee shop or grocery store.

Training

National Capacity Building Project

The National Capacity Building Project (NCB) focuses on building networks of rehabilitation centers and service providers, fostering knowledge-sharing and relationship-building among colleagues in the field, and providing expert professional training and technical assistance. Training for torture treatment professionals focuses on:

  • Clinical skills and best practices
  • Organizational development and fundraising
  • Program management
  • Data collection and program evaluation

HealTorture.org

HealTorture.org serves as a rich repository of information related to torture survivors and their treatment and healing. Through webinar trainings, professional journal articles and publications, bibliographies, treatment manuals, and other online resources, the site hosts a wealth of valuable information intended for psychologists and various therapists, social workers, physicians and nurses, lawyers, and administrators. The website also serves as a portal to other centers and organizations that work with and support survivors of torture.

New Tactics in Human Rights

New Tactics in Human Rights Project is an education program providing resources relating strategies and tactics that can be used by people who seek to advance human rights. [13] These resources have been used by activists in panel discussions, by over 60 local groups for both technical and financial help and for training programs. [14]

New Tactics is a project of the Center for Victims of Torture started in 1999. [15] New Tactics identifies its efforts as focused on three areas: "creating and sharing information and materials", "training and mentoring" and "building an online community". [15]

Resources are organized around analysis of potential solutions rather than that of specific issues, geographic regions or target groups that allow activists to clearly recognize the unique elements of their situation, and to seek approaches that have worked elsewhere and apply them to new regions or issues. This technique may also improve activists’ ability to combine diverse tactics into complex strategies.

Methods

In person training such as regional workshops in which activists train each other in tactics they have used and develop "tactical portfolios" of practical tools for applying new tactics. Seven workshops have been held, the most recent in Liberia in February 2007, focusing on post-conflict tactics for rebuilding civil society.

Publications including the book New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners, which offers a conceptual framework for thinking strategically and tactically to promote human rights, and gives dozens of examples of innovative tactics, categorized by the strategic situation in which they were used. [16] Other publications include the Tactical Notebook Series (Liam Mahoney, series editor) [17] created by participants from the regional cross-training workshops, that provide first-person, detailed information on the use of a tactic and how it may be adapted to other situations. [18]

New Tactics developed "Tactical Mapping" a methodology to help identify the relationships surrounding a human rights abuse, and the points in which the system can be interrupted or transformed, ranging from highly local, personal relationships (e.g., the perpetrator's professional associations) to international institutions (e.g., the United Nations). [14] It allows a coalition of advocates to see where each is working on the system, and where there are gaps that need to be addressed, either by creating new tactics or finding new allies.

Online presence, the New Tactics website has been recognized as a resource for human rights activists. [19] The website provides access to a searchable database with 49 "Tactic Case Studies" [20] and "over 190 specific and successfully implemented human rights tactics and peer-to-peer dialogs with human rights practitioners in more than 130 countries." [19] The project's website also includes online discussion courses, tools for sharing and networking and a monthly discussion, named "Tactical Dialog", of a featured tactic (examples include: unarmed accompaniment; engaging the media; or using historical sites to spark discussion of current issues). New Tactics also publishes an e-newsletter highlighting specific tactics and information for inspiring innovation and the blog InterTactica by Philippe Duhamel.

PATH Project

Partners in Trauma Healing (PATH) creates a network of rehabilitation professionals who provide intellectual and emotional support for the difficult work of providing healing services to torture survivors. PATH works with ten centers focusing on three areas: mental health treatment and healing, monitoring and evaluation, and organizational development.

Related Research Articles

A therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy. Therapists are trained professionals in the field of any types of services like psychologists, social workers, counsellors, etc. They are helpful in counseling individuals for various mental and physical issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom from Torture</span> British charity

Freedom from Torture is a British registered charity which provides therapeutic care for survivors of torture who seek protection in the UK. Since it was established in 1985, over 57,000 survivors of torture have been referred to the organisation for help and it is one of the world’s largest torture treatment centres.

Telephone counseling refers to any type of psychological service performed over the telephone. Telephone counseling ranges from individual, couple or group psychotherapy with a professional therapist to psychological first aid provided by para-professional counselors. In-person therapists often advise clients to make use of telephone crisis counseling to provide the client with an avenue to obtain support outside of therapy if they cannot be reached in an emergency or at the conclusion of a therapeutic relationship.

Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening, or counseling. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, as equals to give each other connection and support on a reciprocal basis.

A mental health professional is a health care practitioner or social and human services provider who offers services for the purpose of improving an individual's mental health or to treat mental disorders. This broad category was developed as a name for community personnel who worked in the new community mental health agencies begun in the 1970s to assist individuals moving from state hospitals, to prevent admissions, and to provide support in homes, jobs, education, and community. These individuals were the forefront brigade to develop the community programs, which today may be referred to by names such as supported housing, psychiatric rehabilitation, supported or transitional employment, sheltered workshops, supported education, daily living skills, affirmative industries, dual diagnosis treatment, individual and family psychoeducation, adult day care, foster care, family services and mental health counseling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims</span> Non-governmental organization

The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) is an independent, international health professional organization that promotes and supports the rehabilitation of torture victims and works for the prevention of torture worldwide. Based in Denmark, the IRCT is the umbrella organization for over 160 independent torture rehabilitation organizations in 76 countries that treat and assist torture survivors and their families. They advocate for holistic rehabilitation for all victims of torture, which can include access to justice, reparations, and medical, psychological, and psycho-social counseling. The IRCT does this through strengthening the capacity of their membership, enabling an improved policy environment for torture victims, and generating and share knowledge on issues related to the rehabilitation of torture victims. Professionals at the IRCT rehabilitation centers and programs provide treatment for an estimated 100,000 survivors of torture every year. Victims receive multidisciplinary support including medical and psychological care and legal aid. The aim of the rehabilitation process is to empower torture survivors to resume as full a life as possible. In 1988, IRCT, along with founder Inge Genefke, was given the Right Livelihood Award "for helping those whose lives have been shattered by torture to regain their health and personality."

A licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) is a professional who has been qualified to provide psychotherapy and other counselling services. LCPCs are trained to work with individuals, families, and groups to treat mental, behavioural and emotional problems and disorders. The main goal of LCPCs is to use counselling strategies to help people live a more satisfying life, which typically involves identifying a goal and finding potential solutions.

The recovery model, recovery approach or psychological recovery is an approach to mental disorder or substance dependence that emphasizes and supports a person's potential for recovery. Recovery is generally seen in this model as a personal journey rather than a set outcome, and one that may involve developing hope, a secure base and sense of self, supportive relationships, empowerment, social inclusion, coping skills, and meaning. Recovery sees symptoms as a continuum of the norm rather than an aberration and rejects sane-insane dichotomy.

The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is an international observance held annually on 26 June to speak out against the crime of torture and to honour and support victims and survivors throughout the world.

This is a day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured the unimaginable. This is an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to remembering and supporting the many victims and survivors of torture around the world.

On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we express our solidarity with, and support for, the hundreds of thousands of victims of torture and their family members throughout the world who endure such suffering. We also note the obligation of States not only to prevent torture but to provide all torture victims with effective and prompt redress, compensation and appropriate social, psychological, medical and other forms of rehabilitation. Both the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have now strongly urged States to establish and support rehabilitation centers or facilities.

The National Center for Trauma-Informed Care is a United States based medical charity, funded by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Created in 2005, it assists publicly funded agencies, programs, and services in making a cultural shift to a more trauma-informed environment — an environment intended to be more supportive, comprehensively integrated, and empowering for trauma survivors.

Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims is a Bangladeshi NGO, working in the area of rehabilitation of trauma victims. It was established in 1992. BRCT began its journey by providing medical treatment, legal support, and rehabilitation to the victims on 25 February 1992 with support from foreign medical experts.

Community mental health services (CMHS), also known as community mental health teams (CMHT) in the United Kingdom, support or treat people with mental disorders in a domiciliary setting, instead of a psychiatric hospital (asylum). The array of community mental health services vary depending on the country in which the services are provided. It refers to a system of care in which the patient's community, not a specific facility such as a hospital, is the primary provider of care for people with a mental illness. The goal of community mental health services often includes much more than simply providing outpatient psychiatric treatment.

Services for mental health disorders provide treatment, support, or advocacy to people who have psychiatric illnesses. These may include medical, behavioral, social, and legal services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza Community Mental Health Programme</span>

The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) is the leading Palestinian non-governmental organization which provides mental health services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. The organization's stated purpose is committed to aid women, children, and victims of violence, torture, and human rights violations. The organization has over 135 employees, is involved with 18 international, regional and local coalitions and networks, and has treated over 20,000 clients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Program for Torture Victims</span>

The Program for Torture Victims (PTV) is a non-profit organization that provides medical, psychological, case management and legal services to torture survivors. PTV serves more than 300 victims of state-sponsored torture from over 65 countries annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Management of domestic violence</span>

The management of domestic violence deals with the treatment of victims of domestic violence and preventing repetitions of such violence. The response to domestic violence in Western countries is typically a combined effort between law enforcement, social services, and health care. The role of each has evolved as domestic violence has been brought more into public view.

Center for Survivors of Torture (CST) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in Dallas, Texas with an office in Austin, Texas. CST was founded in 1997 with the mission of rehabilitating international torture survivors through counseling, medical, legal, and social services.

Clinical mental health counseling is a healthcare profession addressing issues such as substance abuse, addiction, relational problems, stress management, as well as more serious conditions such as suicidal ideation and acute behavioral disorders. Practitioners may also assist with occupational growth in neurodivergent populations and behavioral and educational development. Clinical mental health (CMH) counselors include psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health technicians, marriage counselors, social workers, and family therapists.

Heartland Alliance is an anti-poverty organization based in Chicago, with a historical focus on serving American immigrant communities. Heartland Alliance devotes the bulk of its funding to initiatives that address poverty through health and housing, with further programs centered on jobs, justice, and international work. Heartland Alliance's 72 programs are run by constituent companies Heartland International, Heartland Alliance Health, Inc., Heartland Alliance Housing, Inc., and Heartland Alliance Human Care Services. Heartland Alliance also includes a Policy & Advocacy Team, Social Impact Research Center, National Initiatives, and the National Immigrant Justice Center. As a 501(c)(3), Heartland does not endorse candidates for political office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture</span>

The Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture (PSOT) was established in 1995 as joint project of Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University School of Medicine to address the complex needs of torture survivors residing in the New York Metropolitan area. Since its founding, the Program continues to operate from Bellevue Hospital Center, located at 462 First Avenue CD723, New York City, NY 10016. The Program is the first and largest torture treatment center in the New York City area, providing multidisciplinary and comprehensive medical, mental health, legal, and social services to victims of torture and their families. PSOT's mission is to assist individuals subjected to torture and other human rights abuses to rebuild healthy, self-sufficient lives, and contribute to global efforts to end torture. Since its inception in 1995, PSOT has provided care to help rebuild the lives of more than 5,000 men, women, and children from over 100 countries.

References

  1. ↑ "Center for Victims of Torture". Charities Review Council. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Daniel Borochoff (2008-02-20). "CharityWatch Top-Rated Charities". Charitywatch.org. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  3. ↑ "Charity Navigator Rating - Center for Victims of Torture". Charitynavigator.org. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  4. ↑ Leduc, Daniel (October 18, 1987). "Torture: Innovative Centers Help Heal Broken Bodies, Spirits". The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida). Retrieved via Google News, 2019-09-08.
  5. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ Ogintz, Eileen (June 25, 1985). "Center Will Treat Victims Of A New Epidemic: Torture". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Report of the Governor's Task Force on the Feasibility of a Minnesota Center for the Treatment of Victims of Torture" (PDF). Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "Rebuilding Lives | The Center for Victims of Torture". Cvt.org. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  9. ↑ "National Training Initiatives | The Center for Victims of Torture". Cvt.org. 24 October 2011. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  10. ↑ "Partners in Trauma Healing | The Center for Victims of Torture". Cvt.org. Archived from the original on 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  11. ↑ Archived December 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Reps. Johnson, Raskin re-introduce bill to hold federal law enforcement officers accountable". On Common Ground News - 24/7 local news. 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  13. ↑ "Get Started". New Tactics in Human Rights website. Center for Victims of Torture. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  14. 1 2 Johnson, Douglas A.; Pearson, Nancy L. (Summer 2009). "Tactical Mapping: How nonprofits can identify the levers of change" (PDF). Nonprofit Quarterly. Nonprofit Information Networking Association: 92–99. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-02. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  15. 1 2 "About New Tactics". New Tactics in Human Rights website. Center for Victims of Torture. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  16. ↑ Cornell, Tricia; Kelsch, Kate; Palasz, Nicole (2004). New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners. Center for Victims of Torture. ISBN   9780975978900.
  17. ↑ O'Flaherty, Michael (2007). The Human Rights Field Operation: Law, Theory and Practice. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. x–xi. ISBN   9780754685456 . Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  18. ↑ Feyter, Koen (8 September 2011). The Local Relevance of Human Rights. Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN   9781139501552 . Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  19. 1 2 Becker, Jo (19 December 2012). Campaigning for Justice: Human Rights Advocacy in Practice. Stanford University Press. p. 300. ISBN   9780804784382 . Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  20. ↑ "Tactic Case Studies". New Tactics in Human Rights website. Center for Victims of Torture. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
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