Search

Introduction. The use of threats remains prevalentin law enforcement practices in manyparts of the world. In studies with torture survivors,credible and immediate threats havebeen considered a distinctly harmful methodof torture. Notwithstanding this prevalence,there is a considerable degree of difficulty inlegally substantiating and establishing harmsproduced by threatening acts. It is also generallydifficult to clearly identify the harmsthat go beyond the fear and stress inherent(therefore not unlawful) in law enforcementpractices. We present a Protocol on Medico-Legal Documentation of Threats. The aimof the Protocol is to improve documentationand assessment of harms so that stronger legalclaims can be submitted to local and internationalcomplaints mechanisms.Methods. The Protocol has been developedbased on a methodology initiated by the PublicCommittee against Torture in Israel (PCATI),REDRESS and the DIGNITY - Danish Instituteagainst Torture (DIGNITY) involving:compilation and review of health and legalknowledge on threats; initial drafting by thelead author; discussion among the members ofthe International Expert Group on PsychologicalTorture; pilot-testing in Ukraine by localNGO Forpost; adjustments were made accordingto the results of the pilot study.Results. We present the final Protocol anda Quick Interviewing Guide. This Protocol iscognisant of the significance of the specificsocial, cultural, and political contexts in whichthreats are made and might be subjected to adaptationsto specific contexts. We hope that itwill improve the documentation of threats asa torture method or as part of a torturing environment,as well as inform efforts on theirprevention more broadly.

Introduction. This Protocol originates froma joint project regarding documentation ofpsychological torture initiated by the PublicCommittee against Torture in Israel (PCATI),REDRESS and DIGNITY - Danish InstituteAgainst Torture (DIGNITY) in 2015 afterthe Copenhagen Conference on PsychologicalTorture. The project is a vehicle to establisha common understanding between healthand legal professions as to how to best ensurethe most accurate documentation of torture.The aim of the Protocol is to improve documentationof solitary confinement and thereforeto clarify the facts of the case so thatstronger legal claims can subsequently be submittedto local and international complaintsmechanisms. The Protocol has been developedbased on a methodology involving a compilationand review of legal and health knowledgeon solitary confinement and discussionsamong the authors and in a group of internationalexperts.Methods and Results. This Protocol iscognisant of the significance of the specificsocial, cultural and political contexts in whichsolitary confinement is used. We hope that thisProtocol will assist in the discussions betweenthe various stakeholders and provide guidanceon what can be documented and how to documenttorture.

Editorial to the 2023(1) issue published in 17.03.2023

Introduction. With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, most torture victim care centres had to adapt their forensic assessment methods and move to online methodologies. It is essential to assess the advantages and disadvantages of this type of intervention, which seems to be here to stay. Method. Based on a sample of 21 Istanbul Protocols (IPs) conducted with survivors of torture (SoT) applying for international protection between 2020 and 2021, both professionals (n=21) and SoT (n=21) were interviewed comparing face-to-face (n=10) and remote (n=11) interviews concerning the assessment process, satisfaction, difficulties encountered and fulfilment of therapeutic aspects. Results. No substantial problems were found about the ethical requirements of the IP. Satisfaction with the process was also positive in both modalities. Regarding the process, there were frequent connection problems and a lack of adequate material resources in the remote assessments, requiring a significantly higher number of sessions by IP. Survivors were more satisfied than therapists. Overall, the forensic experts described problems in complex cases with understanding the person's emotional response and establishing a bond and undertaking psychotherapeutic interventions in the event of an emotional crisis during the assessment. In the face-to-face protocols, logistical and travel problems were frequent, which meant that forensic work times had to be adapted. Discussion. The two methodologies are not directly comparable but have specific issues to be studied and addressed. More investment and adaptation is needed in the remote methodology, especially given the financial vulnerability of many survivors. Remote assessment could be an alternative to face-to-face interviews in specific cases. However, there are very relevant human and therapeutic aspects that indicate that, whenever possible, face-to-face assessment should be preferred.

Le Rédacteur en Chef présente la version révisée du Protocole d'Istanbul

The concept of Torturing Environments allows a better understanding of migration detention spaces and the impacts they have on people on the move. This chapter analyses the conditions and impacts derived from them, in spaces located in different border areas: Mexico (N=57), Greece (N=160) and Spain (N=110). The results indicate that the spaces analysed could be considered as torturing environments which generate tear and wear on people on the move. These spaces do not represent isolated cases but are examples of how migration policies use detention as part of a deterrence policy.

Threats are a common feature of detention and interrogation settings and have long been regarded as a routine procedure. Despite their prevalence and propensity to amount to ill-treatment and torture, threats have not been systematically and thoroughly analysed in case documentation processes. Given a lack of understanding, threats have unduly been considered a form of “torture-lite” at best by some juridical actors. However, its effect as an instrument of coercion can be devastating – engendering states of fear and anxiety and forcing its subject to act against their will. There is an important lack of theoretical reflection on what threats are, what types exist and how they impact the survivor. In this editorial, we aim to partly fill this gap from a medical and psychological perspective, providing a framework of understanding that will hopefully improve conceptual and practical assessment, documentation and qualification.

News in the 2023(1) issue published in 17.03.2023

Editorial by the Editor in Chief introducing the revised versión of the Istanbul Protocol.

Introduction to the 30th Anniversary Special Issue in commemoration of the 30 years of the Torture Journal by the Editor-in-Chief, Pau Pérez-Sales.

Book review The Torture Doctors. Human Rights Crimes and the Road to Justice. Steven. H. Miles. Georgetown University Press. 2020

Editorial

Background Torture methods have traditionally been quantified using checklists. However, checklists fail to capture accurately both the almost infinite range of available methods of torture and the victims’ subjective experience. The Torturing Environment Scale (TES) was designed as a multidimensional alternative that groups torture methods according to the specific human function under attack. This study aims to do an exploratory assessment of the internal consistency reliability and discriminatory validity of the TES as part of a construct validity assessment in a sample of Basque torture survivors. Methods We applied the TES to a sample of 201 torture survivors from the Istanbul Protocol Project in the Basque Country Study (IPP-BC) to profile torturing environments in detention. To estimate the internal consistency reliability of the scale, categorical omega values were obtained for each subscale of the TES. To assess its discriminatory validity, the “known groups” method was used comparing mean scorings by gender, state security forces involved in the detention, and decade (the 1980s to the present) when the events took place. Results Men reported more physical pain, while women reported more attacks on self-identity and sexual integrity. The TES also showed significant differences as regards the security forces involved in the detention: Civil Guard (a militarised police) used more manipulation of the environment, threats, fear, pain and extreme pain, as compared to national and regional corps. Finally, although patterns of torture remained mostly unchanged across decades, more recent detentions included more emphasis on psychological attacks: context manipulation, humiliation linked to sexual identity, and attacks to meaning and identity. For all subscales of the TES, categorical omega values ranged from 0.44 to 0.72. Conclusion The TES may be a useful tool in profiling torturing environments. Its sensitivity to key contextual variables supports the discriminatory validity of the scale. While some of the subscales showed an acceptable degree of internal consistency, others require further analysis to improve reliability. The scale provides unique insights into the profile of contemporary torture. It will allow for future quantitative research on the relationship between different torturing environments and the medical and psychological consequences thereof.

The internet was once seen as a new and definitive window to freedom and a world without torture. There is however, another less obvious but perhaps more notorious side: torturous environments can also be created through the internet; a place where individu- als may be targeted for discrimination, coer- cion or control.There is a dearth of academic research and theoretical developments in this very new area of knowledge and this Edito- rial will review and reflect on various aspects, thereby suggesting possible lines of research.

Resumen Objetivo Analizar las practicas forenses en la Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR), actual Fiscalia General de la Republica (FGR), en la aplicacion del Protocolo de Estambul sobre tortura y tratos crueles, inhumanos o degradantes. Metodo Auditoria del cumplimiento de 20 criterios (4 de buena praxis de investigacion y 16 de validez de la documentacion de la evidencia) mediante analisis de 54 dictamenes medico-psicologicos realizados por 21 medicos y 27 psicologas/os de la PGR. La fiabilidad del instrumento de auditoria fue excelente (kappa = 0,89). Resultados Ninguno de los criterios de buena praxis fue respetado en 38 de los 54 dictamenes. Tampoco se cumplieron la mayoria de los 16 criterios sobre documentacion de la evidencia de tortura. No hay diferencias de calidad en los protocolos anteriores y posteriores a la Ley de Prevencion de la Tortura de 2017. Conclusiones La utilizacion del Protocolo de Estambul en la PGR/FGR es inadecuada.

News in the 2023(1) issue published in 17.03.2023

Mexico's role in the US-Central American migration regime is threefold: not only is it a country of origin, and a transit country, but also increasingly becoming a receiving country for migrants who flee from violence, insecurity and poverty. The Mexican state responds with detention enforcement. Clinical research usually puts emphasise on the negative impact of detention enforcement on the detainees' mental health. Yet, it often disregards the spatial configurations of detention centres and their socio-political context. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing how such factors create harmful environments that affect both the detainees' mental health and their social life in Mexico's migration detention centres. The study's mixed method approach builds on semi-structured interviews with a sample of

Sleep deprivation is one of the most prevalent and widely used methods of psychological torture. Its effects on the body are without direct physical aggression and include significant somatic and psychological impacts and suffering. It is used in multiple coercive environments as a way, among other purposes, of degradation, debilitation, punishment or before and during the interrogation of detainees. In this specific context, it produces cognitive, emotional and physical exhaustion, with the aim of obtaining submission or compliance, and ultimately information or confession (Pérez-Sales, 2017; Reynolds & Banks, 2010; Sveaass, 2008). There is no universally accepted legal definition of what should be considered sleep deprivation in the context of torture. There are however converging positions from the legal and jurisprudential, and especially medical and psychiatric fields that allow for establishing sufficiently clear recommendations for the international community to take a reasoned stance. Within the framework of torture as defined in the United Nations Convention (UNCAT), intentionally forcing a person to have less than 6 hours of continuous, restful sleep must be considered a form of degrading treatment that could amount to cruel and inhuman treatment. We also suggest that when this daily sleep deprivation is intentionally prolonged in a sustained manner for three days or more, it should be considered as a form of torture in itself, irrespective of other coexisting or cumulative elements that may aggravate the condition.

Background: Sleep deprivation (SD) is a method used in the context of interrogations aimed to obtain submission, information and confessions. Its impact on producing false confessions has been documented. Even information obtained is true, it will be unreliable as it cannot be separated with what has been suggested by interrogators. The use of SD has been documented in the interrogation of detainees in Israel and two patterns can be identified: one incidental due to the conditions of detention set out here as secondary sleep deprivation (SSD), and one systematic, intentional and linked to continued interrogation, set out here as primary sleep deprivation (PSD). This paper aims to study the prevalence of PSD and SSD in a sample of Palestinian detainees, compare its usage before and after the 1999 Israeli Supreme Court judgment, and compare the impacts and outcomes of SD. Method: The study included a sample of 600 ex-detainees who answered questions related to psychological and coercive methods, subjective psychological impact, clinical measures, psychosocial measures, and medical impact. Classification of SD was built taking into consideration the items related to SD and interrogation. Results: Most detainees reported SSD with around 13% reporting PSD. Prevalence of PSD has been found larger among people over 25 years old who were detained before 1999. Related to the psychological suffering from the overall detention environment including SD, detainees with PSD and SSD reported significantly higher acute and chronic suffering. It has also been found that detainees with PSD reported long term family, social and physical impacts. Regarding the outcome of SD, the number of signed confessions with either true or false statements increases with SD, but in this case, this did not lead neither to a significantly higher number of convictions nor longer sentences. Conclusion: Sleep deprivation in the framework of interrogations seems ineffective.

This Protocol originates from a joint project regarding documentation of psychological torture initiated by the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI), REDRESS and DIGNITY - Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY) in 2015 after the Copenhagen Conference on Psychological Torture. The project is a vehicle to establish a common understanding between health and legal professions as to how to best ensure the most accurate documentation of torture. Historically, sleep deprivation has been used for different objectives but, primarily, to cause stress and duress for the purpose of extracting information and confessions. Detention centers with poor conditions is another context in which sleep deprivation, as a consequence of sleep disruption, takes place. This is often due to overcrowding, insufficient or no mattresses, and poor conditions of transportation between the courts and detention facilities. The aim of the Protocol is to improve documentation of sleep deprivation used in such settings (most often during interrogation) and therefore to clarify the facts of the case so that stronger legal claims can subsequently be submitted to local and international complaints mechanisms. The Protocol has been developed based on a methodology involving: compilation and review of legal and health knowledge on sleep deprivation, also in non-torture contexts; drafting by first author; discussion in the group of international experts; pilot- testing by PCATI; and evaluation by the three organizations and the group of experts. Despite generic elements of sleep deprivation, the context in a specific country will determine many aspects of the factual situation. Each context differs and as such this Protocol could serve as a guideline or a checklist of elements to be considered in a specific context. We hope that this Protocol will assist in the discussions between the various stakeholders and provide guidance on what can be documented and how to document sleep deprivation.

Background. European countries apply a policy of deterrence of migrants in territorial and extraterritorial border areas. The authors apply the model of torturing environments, which has been already applied to other contexts where persons are deprived of liberty, to the situation of the reception center of Moria, on the island of Lesvos (Greece). Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the months of April and June of 2020. Personal interviews were conducted with 160 people (80 men, 80 women) from Afghan, Syrian, Somalian, and Congo backgrounds. The authors applied the Torturing Environmental Scale, which measures interpersonal violence, emotional distress, and legal safeguards. Results. The findings confirm the inhumane living conditions for the people sheltered in Moria, documenting the severe suffering of the population due to elements linked to basic human functions (hunger, thirst, hygiene, overcrowding, temperature, etc.), actions that produce fear and distress, actions that produce helplessness and hopelessness, actions that cause physical pain, attacks on sexual integrity, and attacks on identity and the need to belong. Some of the data suggest that the purposive and intentionality elements of the definition of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment were also met. Conclusions. According to the conceptual model of torturing environments, the Moria reception camp constitutes a space of systematic ill treatment that vulnerated the European legal standards related to torture (Article 3 of the Human Rights Convention). The idea of torturing environments provides a valuable avenue to assess human rights violations in collective spaces and could constitute a useful tool in forensic and litigation processes.

To analyse forensic practices in the Attorney General's Office (previously PGR by its acronym in Spanish, and FGR at present), in the application of the Istanbul Protocol on torture and/or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.Auditing of the fulfillment of 20 criteria (4 of good research practice, 16 of validity of the evidence documentation) through the analysis of 54 medical-psychological reports made by 21 doctors and 27 psychologists of the PGR/FGR. The reliability of the assessment instrument was excellent (kappa=0.89).None of the good practice criteria was respected in 38 of the 54 opinions. Nor were most of the 16 criteria on documentation of evidence of torture met. There are no quality differences in the protocols before and after the Prevention of Torture Act of 2017.The use of the Istanbul Protocol in the PGR/FGR is inadequate.

On 23 April 2020, IRCT published its re- search on the global practice of conversion therapy. The report, entitled “It’s Torture Not Therapy,” compiles information on the “practices, practitioners and roles of states in conducting, supporting, promoting and acquiescing in conversion therapy” and is in- tended to supplement the Expert Statement of the Independent Forensic Expert Group on the same issue, also printed in this edition of Torture Journal.

We already have more than twenty-five years of academic research on migration and torture; the field has developed into an increasingly complex one since the first descriptive and epidemiological studies. This Editorial puts forward a conceptual map for helping to understand migration and torture and introduces the collection of papers in this issue of the Torture Journal.

Exhumation processes are described in fourteen Latin American countries. They have been classified into four categories: 1) collective massacres (Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Peru, 2) persons detained and disappeared as a result of state policies (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay), 3) collective violence (Venezuela, Mexico and Panama) and 4) selective deaths under democratic regimes (Ecuador and Honduras). The events are described that made it necessary to start the exhumation process and other processes, analysing psychosocial accompaniment for relatives, whether it has been provided, and attempting to draw lessons from each experience on order to develop processes still outstanding in this and other continents.

Over the past few weeks, and with the Editorial already at completion, the COVID-19 pandemic has invaded our lives. Its systemic impact has affected, and continues to affect in equal measure the provision of rehabilitation to victims of torture. Amongst the many areas in which COVID-19 has impacted the field of prevention and rehabilitation of torture survivors, at least 8 areas of concern can be highlighted. 1. Attacks on basic fundamental rights and unnecessary increase in social control measures (Human Rights Watch, 2020a) 2. Increases in cases of ill-treatment or torture linked to the pandemic itself. For instance, various media sources have reported cases related to the dissemination of information in countries where this was considered to be against the interest of the State (Wang, 2020; Human Rights Watch, 2020b; Amnesty International, 2020a) 3. Respect for the rights of detainees and COVID preventive measures in detention settings that are compliant with human rights (Council of Europe, 2020; OHCHR, 2020; Council of Europe, 2010) and especially amnesty processes for political prisoners or the use non-custodial measures (Comninos, 2020; Amnesty International, 2020b). 4. Increases in cases of gender-based violence (Ford, 2020; UNFPA, 2020; UN Women, 2020) and assaults on homeless populations (Phasuk, 2020; Hartley, 2019), both related to fear and isolation. 5. Relapse of symptoms, especially night mares, flashbacks and somatic symptoms, in survivors that were ill-treated or tortured while in custody, due to COVID- related self-confinement or measures of medical isolation. 6. The reshaping of society: Will there be a change in values towards more egalitarian, empathetic and supportive societies? Or an evolution towards a more fearful society with an increasing lack of solidarity as fear instils? 7. The use of warlike metaphors (the “war” on the Coronavirus) as a prelude to restrictions in freedoms, censorship or authoritarianism in the name of the collective good (Human Rights Watch, 2020a). 8. Cutting budget allocations for the most disadvantaged, vulnerable groups in general and survivors of torture specifically, in favour of security policies or market-based post-COVID decisions (UNDP, 2020; European Council, 2020). These are some of the many areas of reflection on COVID-19 as a global crisis in the field of human rights and the prevention of torture and rehabilitation of torture victims. Torture Journal invites our readers to share your experiences, reflections, research and data in the form of a Letter to the Editor, News or Research Report for inclusion in future issues of the Journal. This is a global crisis which may, in turn, foster a shared learning opportunity for all.

This chapter aims to discuss the understanding of torture and ill-treatment to include the dimensions. The concept of “psychological torture” is part of our regular language, it is part of the experience of survivors, it appears in court rulings and news and it is incorporated as a concept in our daily language, even as a common-sense concept. For decades, torturers have been thinking about the psychological processes of the victim and the way to influence him/her, be it interrogational torture, humiliation or punishment torture or torture to induce compliance and obedience. Sometimes torture, especially short-term torture aimed to induce a temporary break of the will, leaves no marks. The Istanbul Protocol defines ways in which a professional can document and investigate torture from a medical and a psychological point of view. The individual assessment and therapy of torture survivors must be part of an overall process of reparation and rehabilitation.

We close Volume 29 with an issue of Torture Journal focused on measuring processes and results, a subject that has always been considered a priority for the sector. There is a dearth of studies on long-term follow-up to assess rehabilitation success. The paper by Martin Hill and Mary Lynn Everson, “Indicators likely to contribute to clinical and functional improvement among survivors of politically-sanctioned torture” is unique in the length of post-treatment follow-up, and provides an innovative approach in the measurement of rehabilitation outcomes through a structured measure of functional aspects with an instrument designed at the Kovler Center in Chicago. In addition, in the framework of the interminable debate over whether clinical categories of psychiatric classifications respond effectively to the experience of torture victims, Marie Louison Vang and colleagues present in their paper “Testing the validity of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD among refugees in treatment using latent class analysis,” a validation study through multivariate models to distinguish between the classic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and the new Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in refugee and torture survivor populations. The results show that this new diagnosis not only complements the previous one but both approaches represent an improved nosological classification and definition of the experiences of torture survivors. Kim Baranowski and collaborators, in their paper, “Experiences of gender-violence in women asylum seekers from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala” propose, supported by the evidence gathered, that types of violence experienced by these women are multi-intersectional, and that restricted categorisation of the concept of torture can ignore the experiences of asylum-seeking women, whose lives, both in their countries of origin, in transit and in the host country, are persistently affected by structural, psychological and physical violence perpetrated by state and nonstate actors alike. Finally, Kristi Rendahland Pamela Kriege Santoso offer in their contribution “Organizational development with torture rehabilitation programs: An applied perspective,” a personal, non-data-driven text representing their experience in supporting the creation of torture victim centres in different countries within the framework of the CVT’s Partners in Trauma Healing (PATH) Project.In this last issue of the journal we would like to thank all the authors that have chosen Torture Journal as the platform to share their research. In particular, we extend our thanks to those anonymous reviewers who have devoted hours and effort to the indispensable task of giving us their critical and constructive view of the journal’s articles. Without them the publication would not be possible.We believe that this issue of the Torture Journal will undoubtedly provide many elements of reflection for our readers. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed preparing it.Torture Journal Editorial Team

The article presents a systematic literature review on migration, torture and health.

Introduction: During the Peruvian internal armed conflict, fifteen members of the Santa Barbara community were collectively executed by state agents, and their relatives were made victims of persecution, torture, and imprisonment. The case, known as the Santa Barbara massacre, was brought to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The documentation of individual, family and community impacts for the Court became a challenge due to the need to address cultural, geographical, political and community aspects. This paper aims to discuss the complexities of forensic documentation of human rights violations using a psychosocial and communitarian background. Method: The assessment included seven survivors from three different families. Both qualitative and quantitative instruments were used. A participative action research framework guided the design, documentation process, and discussion of outcomes with the survivors. Results/ discussion: The report included four levels of documentation exhibited in the Istanbul Protocol framework: clinical impacts from a western perspective, emic formulations and cultural idioms of distress, communitarian perspectives, and a proposal of reparation measures for the Court. Individual analysis revealed chronic mental health sequelae of forced displacement, imprisonment and torture. Local idioms of distress (in Quechuan, “pinsamientuwan,” “llaki,” “ñakary,” “umananay” and “iquyay”) deepened the understanding of the damage faced by the survivors. The analysis of the community uncovered three main areas of collective damage: broken social and cultural identity, lack of political participation, and loss of perspective on the future. Regarding reparations, survivors highlighted the pursuit for justice, the dignified remembrance of their loved ones, social re-inclusion of displaced persons into the community, education for offspring, and measures for the preservation of their community’s identity and culture. Conclusions: Psycholegal accompaniment for victims through a participatory research approach is essential for the proper documentation of the consequences of violence in complex contexts. It is also essential in guaranteeing that the forensic documentation of the impact of political violence can be proposed as reparative for the survivors in itself.

Documenting torture in children and young adults (ChYA) is a challenge. Less than 3% of academic papers on documentation and rehabilitation of torture victims are focused on children and youth. In the Delphi study on research priorities in the sector (Pérez-Sales, Witcombe, & Otero Oyague, 2017), five lines were proposed regarding torture in children, which covered: developmental disruptions related to the torture of relatives; developmental deficits related to infant torture; the effect on caregivers of torture/kidnapping of their children; the impact of torture on identity and worldviews among adolescents; and transgenerational trauma. The latter was considered among the 40 top research priorities. In this editorial, we briefly review: aspects related to the notion of torture as applied to ChYA; specific ethical problems in forensic documentation; and challenges in consistency statements. By doing so, we aim to outline key challenges that researchers and practitioners ought to pursue.

Classical perspectives on sexualized torture are being increasingly challenged by contemporary debates informed by emerging claims (Mendez, 2016; Sáez, 2016; Sifris, 2014). Gender-based analysis based on feminist and other theoretical approaches is needed to adequately address these. Arriving at a general framework for the reconceptualization of torture, and progressively widening the analytical scope of gender and torture, are priorities. Gender analyses of torture needs to encompass a broader range of phenomena, from rape and attacks on sexual integrity to any suffering inflicted on human beings that is intricately intertwined with gender (Jakobsen, 2014), including and not limited to discrimination against LGTBI persons,1 genital mutilation, and the restriction of any of the broad range of issues under the frame of reproductive freedom, such as abortion and involuntary sterilization.2 The push for a gender transformative rethinking of conceptual and analytical approaches to torture is accompanied by the need to develop specific tools to detect and assess sexual and gender-based torture (including the necessity for a reconsideration of gender perspectives on the Istanbul Protocol), to incorporate a feminist perspective in the rehabilitation of victims. This requires specific treatment approaches as well as holistic survivor-centered rehabilitation models that include access to high quality and comprehensive services. Services that support stigma reduction are particularly important. Our own desk review on all papers published in Torture Journal since 2006 until 2018 showed a clear gender analysis gap: only 32% of papers included the word ‘gender’ and 38% the word ‘female’ in any part of the text. In 84% of the cases, these mentions simply indexed the presentation of data disaggregated by sex. Only 4% of all the papers published in the Journal attempted a gender analysis. To help address this gap, the Journal circulated a call for papers on gender and torture that aligned with research priorities identified in our Delphi study (Pérez-Sales, Witcombe, & Otero, 2017). The response to this call has been encouraging. This issue features a collection of texts that highlight important aspects of sexualized and gender-based torture and provide reflections that contribute to framing the theoretical debate on the nature and scope of gender-based and genderized forms of torture. The Journal believes that even more research and reflection is necessary to adequately clarify and raise the terms of this debate and additional texts relevant to the topic are planned to appear in forthcoming issues. This current issue draws out key concepts that are important to making an impact, both on the debate and in practice.

The events in October 2017 in Catalonia exemplify the difficulty of establishing what ‘excessive use of force’ means. Images of violent repression of defenceless people of all ages waiting to vote accompany the Spanish government’s spokeswoman reiterating in the media that what the police force is doing is “proportional” and therefore allegedly acceptable. Can scientific research add to the debate on what is “proportional” and when an intervention in non-custodial settings enters into what is banned under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (‘CAT’)? This is not a minor issue. According to international databases, from an epidemiological point of view, torture happens mainly in prisons and police stations linked to marginalised populations. Ill-treatment and torture against political dissidents and protesters is less frequent, but widespread, affecting around 70% of countries across the world (Conrad, Haglund, & Moore, 2013).

Editorial.