THEMATIC REPORT 2017 SEXUAL TORTURE normal and healthy sexuality. So, very often victims cannot satisfy the wishes of their partners, or of both of them.” Moreover, sexual torture can affect the victim’s ability to engage in new relationships. Staff at ITEI Bolivia explain, “Let us assume she falls in love with someone again, with a new person, to what extent would her sexual sphere still be free, be open for beautiful experiences? She cannot even bear anyone touching her.” In some cases, intense psychological trauma or physical damage to genital health can severely hamper sexual intercourse. “Our registers show that 25% of those who experienced forced stripping in detention faced a lack of desire to establish intimate relations with their partners, both women and men. They experience a feeling of humiliation whenever they get naked. Men also report problems of erection or premature ejaculation, and women complain about pain during intercourse and irregularity of their period,” report staff at TRC Palestine. Finally, some centres note the impact sexual torture can have on a victim’s subjective sexual identity. RCTV Memoria Moldova reports: “In terms of her sexual identity, she had a time when she wanted to be a boy, not a girl, she explained that her identity as a girl was broken, as a boy she would feel more empowered, stronger, she could defend herself.” In some rehabilitation centres, an integral part of their crisis intervention is to help women and girls access safe abortion services. TPO Nepal, for instance, recalls the case of a 14-year-old girl who became pregnant after having been raped by two policemen. TPO facilitated a safe abortion at a hospital in addition to providing her with treatment and care after the medical intervention. In her case, the two policemen pressured the girl to abort the child but in other situations torturers deliberately release their victims at a stage of pregnancy where abortion is no longer possible. As noted by CTV Bosnia & Herzegovina, this was especially the case during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. TCSVT South Africa interprets the impregnation of women and girls as a purposeful and systematic strategy to destroy familial relations and drive the victims into abandonment and expulsion. “I think sexual torture is often wilfully used to destroy a family system,” a counsellor at TCSVT notes. “It is used as a weapon not only against the direct victims, the women, but against their male counterparts as well. They punish them by making sure that a different ‘seed is planted’ in their wives, to destroy the husbands’ own lineage, their own family.” The TCSVT counsellor recently started to treat a young Congolese woman who has been unable to conceive since her sexual torture. “This is causing a lot of pressure in her family because she does not have children yet. Culturally, for this Congolese couple it is so complicated not to have children because they need to justify this to their families, without divulging that she was sexually violated because of the strong stigma that is attached to it,” the counsellor explains. “We were providing services to one woman who was not only rejected by her husband, but also lost her business. It was very difficult for her to reintegrate into society.” Save Congo DRC Economic impact The effects of sexual torture, rehabilitation centres find, may affect a survivor’s ability to perform their job or it may hinder their ability to find employment. As a result, they often face severe economic hardship. The example of José, a beneficiary of TCC Cameroon illustrates the ways in which sexual torture can impact an entire family’s economic situation. Due to his incontinence, “he was not strong enough to look for a job and simply also not able to pursue a job; he cannot work because the torture marked his body in such an extreme way.” Another case reported by TCC Cameroon shows how difficult economic survival became for a mother and child. Sereine was abducted and abused as a sex slave by a militant rebel group in her home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following her escape, she is now seeking asylum in Cameroon. Her husband is still missing; she does not have a job, and cannot afford to send her daughter to school. In order to survive, she walks from door to door and asks for money in exchange for a day’s domestic labour. According to TCC Cameroon, the state does not provide help to victims like Sereine, and UNHCR’s services for refugees are very limited in the country. Commenting on the economic impact of sexual torture, an expert at TCSVT South Africa explains, “Their trauma must be understood as a social disability, and it is clear that they would need public financial support. But I do not page 22