THEMATIC REPORT 2017 SEXUAL TORTURE As highlighted by CTV Bosnia and Herzegovina, many victims of sexual torture struggle with feelings of guilt. Clinicians at the centres observe that survivors subconsciously blame themselves for the incident and imagine different scenarios where they could have avoided, controlled or escaped what happened to them. The centres suggest that this is partly a result of social stigma, which instead of supporting victims may hold them responsible or blame them for bringing shame to their family or community. “Since the rape, her family has not been treating her well, and also the community is not supportive. Her husband has left, they are separated.” A rehabilitation expert from TCC Cameroon explains the impact of social pressure and the implications for victims of sexual torture. “In our community, when a girl is raped, her parents and grandparents are first of all concerned that the news does not spread because it is a disgrace for the family. This is the case with most of our beneficiaries. Some were even abandoned by their own family. Some were forced to leave the country because they were stigmatised in their neighbourhood. The stigma attached to sexual torture makes it extremely difficult for survivors to rebuild their relationship with their families. According to the centres, many survivors often report that they feel an intense sense of shame and guilt in front of their partners, parents or children. They may also feel unable to take care of their children, engage with their partners, or work, regardless of how supportive their family environment might be. Sometimes, this is exacerbated by the physical consequences of the torture. RCT Croatia Impact on family life “This way they are made to think that it was just their own fault because they could maybe have taken action to avoid being tortured. Once, a refugee who experienced a brutal mass rape by members of a rebel group in Congo, her home country, told me, that she was sure that ‘If I had found out earlier that I should have left the country as soon as Séléka came to Bangui, then none of this would have happened.’ Another said that maybe by shouting she could have attracted some people passing by who would have helped her. TCC’s approach to supporting these victims is to acknowledge that it is not unexpected that they would feel guilty and ashamed due to the beliefs in their communities. By acknowledging this, they report that their clients begin to understand how processes of stigmatisation work. “We get them to understand who really has to feel ashamed. They manage to clearly see that it is not the victim, but that it is the perpetrator […]. They understand that they are not responsible for what happened, that it is not their fault. And we observed that then they feel much lighter, it really relieves them.” page 20 Jiona and Kamari refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, TCSVT South Africa Jiona and Kamari, a couple in their early thirties, approached TCSVT in January 2016. Their counsellor recalls how they described the night a rebel group broke into their house. “They were eight, all armed. They started beating them. Then, four of them raped her, while the other four were holding and beating him. After that, they swapped, and the four who raped her went to beat him, the four who were beating him went on to rape her.” The gang rape caused a severe infection of Jiona’s urinary tract. “She was not able to control her bladder, so her urine would just flow out all the time.” This had a strong impact on the couple’s relationship: “In the first session, when I sat with Kamari, he said to me that he thinks he should leave her, because of the problem that she was having. He felt that there was