1 Introduction Torture is intended to invade a person’s presumptions of privacy, intimacy and inviolability and thereby destroy their belief in their own independence. The overriding purpose of the perpetrator may be to frighten and control a person, to obtain information, oppress and persecute political opponents; or it may be to induce a state of compliance in order to transport a person, sell them to others and hold them captive in exploitation through the process of human trafficking. Interpersonal violence which may be endured throughout, or at various stages of the trafficking experience, shares the same fundamental components of torture. It is a situation whereby a perpetrator exerts total control over a victim who is psychologically and/or physically entrapped. The victim is therefore forced into a position of isolated helplessness. The methods used by traffickers to subjugate victims, and the physical and psychological injuries which are clinically assessed and documented at the Helen Bamber Foundation, leads us to conclude that interpersonal violence suffered by victims of trafficking is analogous to cases of state torture and other forms of ill treatment. “Torture is one of the most serious crimes that states or individuals can commit. It consists of the stripping away of the dignity of one human being by others, asserting total power and control over mind and body, inflicting pain, causing despair and destroying a person’s identity and sense of self. Our clinicians work to address the psychological consequences of this experience in victims of human trafficking: loss of trust in others, loss of hope, disturbed sleep and violent nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, the destruction of identity and sexuality and the constant presence of fear.” Information on the Helen Bamber Foundation The Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF) is a clinical care organization based in London that supports survivors of interpersonal violence from human trafficking, state tor- ture and ill-treatment, domestic violence, gender-based violence (including violence on the basis of sexual orientation) and collective violence. HBF’s work is client-centered and driven, and methods for meeting clients’ needs have been continually developed through collective experience in clinical work. HBF’s specialist staff includes doctors (General Practioners/GPs), psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, physiotherapists, body-mind therapists, and a wide range of other clinicians. This project draws upon the collective experience of specialist staff and clients at the Helen Bamber Foundation. It refers throughout to interviews with HBF clinicians, clinical case study extracts and existing research. Its objective is to identify the connection between torture and trafficking in human beings from a clinical perspective in order to develop a more informed and detailed approach to the identification and protection of trafficked people; and to establish appropriate standards for their clinical assessment and therapeutic care. From a clinical perspective, physical and psychological injuries from torture and ill-treatment are not restricted by the place in which the torture or ill-treatment took place, or the identity or role of the perpetrator. However, information on these aspects is crucial to taking a history and gaining a full understanding of each case. For the purposes of clinical assessment and documentation, HBF’s clinicians use the framework of the Istanbul Protocol on the Effective Investigation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol)1. The HBF study consists of two parts: – Part one explains how human trafficking cases fall within a clinical spectrum of interpersonal violence. It provides an outline of the physical and psychological injuries which are assessed and documented in victims of trafficking at HBF, in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol. The psychological impact of trafficking is discussed in terms of the challenges this presents for victims in providing an account of their experiences, and therefore for all those who work to assist them. – Part two shares the clinical experience of the Helen Bamber Foundation in all aspects of its work with victims of trafficking. It explains the benefits of multi-agency co-operation and outlines core therapeutic principles and Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 49