of victims affected by the dictatorship, experience of trauma is usually the common factor. In recent years EATIP has put a lot of effort into activities that support witnesses and complainants involved in trials brought against perpetrators of the military dictatorship. Professionals from EATIP together with members of the Asociación de Ex Detenidos Desaparecidos (Association of Ex Detainees who were Disappeared) launched individual and group working methods to provide support, counselling and continuous monitoring so that witnesses and complainants are in the best possible shape mentally to testify before the court. Because much of the pain surrounding the disappearances of victims of the dictatorship is still evident, EATIP begins its support by scheduling meetings between those summoned to testify and staff so a trusting relationship can be built. Staff provide psychological support to the witness and his/her family, during and after the hearing. These methods are useful to generate a coordinated and honest environment, both to obtain a testimony that provides the legal process with strong evidence and to really understand and treat the trauma suffered by the witness. Support through the legal process prevents or reduces the impact of re-traumatisation which may occur during legal proceedings as witnesses are forced to confront the horrors of their past suffered at the hands of the state. The support aims to avoid re-traumatisation, prevent the victim or witness exhibiting reactive symptoms and ensure that those directly affected and their families are sufficiently strong emotionally to confront their torturers and testify. Through this support it is hoped that the act of testifying provides the victims with a sense of reparation, both from a personal point of view and as representatives of the larger group of victims to which they belong. However, EATIP still faces challenges: archives from the dictatorship are not yet declassified, which prevents relatives of the disappeared from gathering information about the existence of their loved ones. Therefore their level of trauma can still never be fully understood. Moreover, achieving justice is incredibly slow – trials are lengthy and many victims (and perpetrators) are now elderly. In addition, in both the preliminary investigation and the development of the trial, the burden lies with the victims and their families to present sufficiently strong evidence so as to ensure that sentences are handed down by the court. 44