THEMATIC REPORT 2017 SEXUAL TORTURE The traumatic event itself and the physical consequences of sexual torture cause severe psychological sequelae, which continue long after the event. This can lead to depression or various symptoms of PTSD, including anxiety and sleeping disorders. In addition, severe psychological disturbances can also influence the victims’ bodily health, causing comorbidities such as high blood pressure, diabetes or sexual disorders. Common psychological effects of sexual torture, as reported by IRCT rehabilitation centres: • Sadness, feelings of worthlessness, depressive disorders, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts • Sleeping disorders, e.g. insomnia • Social dissociation up to total isolation, communicative disorders, fear of intimacy or closeness • Feelings of impurity and dirtiness, feelings of shame, feelings of guilt, changed perception of one’s gender identity • Timidity, fear of being chased, mistrust and hyper-vigilance, anxiety (attacks), sensation of permanent tension in one’s body • Irritability, aggression, mood swings up to severe bipolar disorder • Inability to concentrate, memory lapses • Loss of appetite, inability to feel any satisfaction • Psychotic episodes like paranoia or irrepressible recollections of the event in the form of visual, aural, olfactory or sensory hallucination, such as intrusive thoughts, images or flashbacks, often accompanied by neuron-vegetative disorders like sweating, tachycardia, or visceral spasms • Permanent personality disorders page 16