THEMATIC REPORT 2017 SEXUAL TORTURE to make them believe that they are about to be sexually assaulted, so they feel terrified and confess whatever the interrogators want them to.” Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) populations Sexual orientation can be a deciding factor both in the type of victim targeted and the method of torture used, including forced anal examinations. In many countries, hetero-normativity and homophobia are still prevalent, so much so that practices of intended ‘adjustment’ of sexual minorities are ordered, defended or acquiesced by state authorities. In countries where homosexuality is prohibited, victims are unable to report their cases to the police or to seek help in public hospitals. They may also be afraid of approaching independent NGOs, as emphasised by staff at rehabilitation centre TPO Nepal, who note that ‘Samalingi’, persons of ‘third gender’, are strongly discriminated against in Nepalese society. Tariq TRC Palestine On 22 December 2014, Tariq was playing outside his house when he was attacked by military dogs and then arbitrarily arrested by a group of Israeli officers. According to this victim’s care provider: “He experienced what most arrested kids and adolescents experience: repeated strip searches. They repeatedly forced him to strip himself of all his clothes, layer by layer, against his will, until he was completely naked. He tried to defy them and refused to take off all of his underwear, but he was forced to obey the interrogator and in front of three other soldiers he had to get fully undressed. You can imagine how humiliated and ashamed he felt. Or maybe we cannot imagine it. “Again and again, the media report about Samalingi experiencing rape by heterosexual men. In such cases, perpetrators consider the rape to be a punishment and at the same time an educative means to change or ‘correct’ the victim’s sexual orientation. There are also rumours about correctional male to male rape being perpetrated by the police themselves. However, these cases are not being reported because victims are afraid of the state and society’s reaction. Society and social discrimination play a very important role in forcing these victims to hide what they have gone through.” Staff member at TPO Nepal Children and adolescents As became evident during the interviews, children and adolescents are also victims of sexual torture. TRC Palestine staff report that sexual torture against children is common-place in Israeli prisons. “Children get stripped of their clothes by the interrogators in order page 11 “They laughed at him, they made fun of him and his naked body. Therefore, he now has to deal with overwhelming feelings of inferiority, insecurity and a very low selfesteem. In addition to shame, he told us that he also feels disgust and guilt because when he stood naked in front of them they moved on to probe his body against his will using a flash light. Whenever they did this, he fell into a state of extreme anxiety and stress of which he has recurrent flashbacks up until now. He was not released until 29 March 2015. Over three months, again and again, he experienced this kind of humiliation, which is clearly sexual torture.”