The land of milk and honey : a picture of refugee torture survivors presenting for treatment in a South African trauma centre
Intake data obtained from 55 refugee torture survivors accessing trauma treatment services at a centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, paints a picture of suffering beyond the torture experience. The intake forms part of a more comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system developed for the work done with torture survivors accessing psychosocial services.
Author: Bandeira, Monica | Higson-Smith, Craig | Bantjes, Megan | Polatin, Peter
RCT Author (No longer employed at RCT): Peter B. Polatin
Source: Torture : Quarterly Journal on
Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture, 20
(2): 92-103
Download here
The diverse sample with different nationalities highlights that
torture occurs in many countries on the African continent. It also
highlights South Africa's role as a major destination for refugee
and asylum seekers. However, "the land of milk and honey" and the
process of arriving here, often poses additional challenges for
survivors of torture. This is reflected in the high levels of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (69%), anxiety (91%), and depression
(74%) for our sample, all of which were significantly
correlated.
The loss of employment status from before the torture experience
until the time of intake was great for this sample, impacting on
their recovery. In addition the presence of medical conditions
(44%), disabilities (19%), and pain (74%) raise serious questions
regarding interventions that focus mainly on psychosocial needs. No
significant gender differences were found. The paper begins to
paint a clearer picture of the bio-psycho-social state of torture
survivors accessing services in South Africa, as well as
highlighting many of the contextual challenges which impact on
recovery.