2. Integrate the family in the psychosocial support programme The importance of integrating the family in psychosocial support offered to torture victims participating in legal proceedings is highlighted as a best practice example by many of the IRCT members featured in this report, including Balay Center in the Philippines and RCT Zagreb in Croatia. The inclusion of the family is particularly important as they are often indirectly affected by the torture suffered by the primary victim. For example, where a parent experienced torture, the children will often also need psychosocial support. In terms of participating in legal proceedings, family members often accompany the victim to court and provide a vital source of ongoing emotional support. In addition, integrating the family into support programmes helps the victim to reintegrate into family life and the family to accept and understand the victim’s experience and face the rest of the community, particularly where they feel stigmatised. Croatia: RCT Zagreb explains how they accompany the family throughout their process of seeking justice for 20 years RCT Zagreb provided a range of psychosocial support services to a Croatian family who lost a husband and father during the persecution of Serbian minorities in Croatia during the early 1990s. After the torture and murder of her husband (a Serbian national) at the hands of Croatian police, the widow had to identify his body, and then wait for the investigation into his torture and murder to proceed. In the meantime she experienced emotions of fear, hope for justice, and the shame of being stigmatised by the community. The images of her husband’s torture remain vivid. Her daughter, who was nine years old at the time, grew up experiencing not only her father’s murder but also threats that the family received when they decided to seek justice. Almost 20 years later, the investigation is still not finished and the perpetrators have not yet been identified or punished. The family suffer economic hardship, struggling to provide for their basic needs. The daughter was unable to study due to financial and psychological problems. 38