THEMATIC REPORT 2017 Key Action 2: Build trust and raise awareness to encourage survivors to speak Once privacy and confidentiality is assured rehabilitation experts must focus their efforts on providing a space and an atmosphere that facilitate the comfort and trust of their clients. Several examples in this report have illustrated how difficult it is to disclose sexual abuse. KHIAM Lebanon notes that it should be explicitly expressed to survivors that counsellors are “experts and are genuinely concerned about the safety, the well-being and the mental health of the client, about supporting their recovery from trauma and empowering their reintegration,” as this may not be clear to some victims and their families. Then, with great skill and care, the counsellor will try to win the confidence of their patient, help them to overcome fear and shame and convince them that they are free to talk and that it can be of benefit to them to speak about their traumatic past. Several centres point to the importance of educating their staff in how to identify signs of gender-based and sexual torture early on. This needs to be sensitive to the symptoms and hints of their patients that might indirectly reveal sexual violence, such as references in clients’ accounts to problems in their sexual life, to pain in genital organs, or to other persons who experienced sexual abuse. Another strategy to encourage survivors to talk about their sexual abuse is to make them understand there are many victims with similar experiences, that there are experts who know about this, and that there is a global human rights and health movement that advocates for their right to rehabilitation. Once a victim understands that there are many people who think that what they experienced is unfair and that this needs to change, they might feel empowered to claim their right to assistance and to justice. This can happen by providing them with awareness-raising publications on torture and sexual violence, by organising media campaigns for solidarity, by targeting schools, universities, youth clubs etc. SEXUAL TORTURE Key action 2 Build trust and raise awareness to encourage survivors to speak Challenges: • Social stigma and feelings of shame make it very difficult for survivors to disclose their experiences of sexual torture. • Survivors do not feel safe telling their stories to professionals and fear the repercussions of speaking out. • Survivors blame themselves and are wracked with feelings of guilt and so, often, do not seek help. • Survivors are not informed about their rights to rehabilitation and justice and so, often, do not claim them. Recommendations: • Identify a comfortable and private space in rehabilitation centres, medical centres, prisons etc. that creates an environment where survivors feel safe to open up. • Train all persons working with survivors, including NGO staff, doctors, nurses, psychotherapists, social workers and police staff, in building a friendly, empathic and professional rapport with them to create trust and to encourage them to speak. Train all persons working with survivors to notice signs that an individual may be a victim of sexual torture but is not comfortable disclosing this, as well as to react in a professional manner. • Train all persons working with survivors in sensitive and supportive modes of communication. • Set up free confidential telephone helplines or online help chat-rooms for survivors. • Share materials with beneficiaries and at public meetings and other events which show survivors that they are not alone and that they have a right to rehabilitation and justice. page 26