Torture and Torturous Violence: Transcending Definitions of Torture

Front Cover
Torture and Torturous Violence: Transcending Definitions of Torture
Copyright information
Dedication
Table of contents
List of Figures and Tables
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Outline of Book
Introduction: Why ‘Torture and Torturous Violence’?
	Introduction
	Outlining key legal definitions of torture
	Addressing the complexities of torture and torturous violence
		Methods and methodologies
		A note on positionality and debates on the legitimacy of torture
	Structure of this book
1 Outlining the Definitional Boundaries of ‘Torture’
	Introduction
	‘Torture’: definitional developments and limitations
	Moving towards three epistemological perspectives
		1. Orthodox legalism (strictly following legal conventions)
			Role of the state
			Systematic physical and psychological violence
			Adhering to legal conventions, including changing as they evolve
		2. Legalist hybridity (taking a flexible approach between the application of legal conventions and wider definitions of torture and trauma)
			The archetypal narrative: multifarious forms of violence can be torture, but torture is separately definable
			Motivation matters – so does severity and impact
			Survivor narratives do not always encompass the term ‘torture’, regardless of legal definitions
		3. Experiential epistemologies (building knowledge on experiences of survivors)
			Defined by experience
			Definitions of torture may be organizationally bound to legal norms, but not bound to individual perspectives
	Where does ‘torture’ take place? Gendering torturous spatiality
		Torture as a social contract
			Group torture, witnessing and surveillance
			The employment of medical practitioners and psychologists
			Multiple perpetrator rape
	The expanding realms and recognitions of torture
	Conclusion
2 ‘Wandering Throughout Lives’: Outlining Forms and Impacts of Torture
	Introduction
		Prologue: why outline forms of torture?
	Typologies of torture: situating mechanisms of physical and psychological violence
	Forms of infliction: what do we mean when we talk about ‘torture’?
	The glocalization of torture
		From repetitive beatings to imaginative inquisition
		Psychological torture
		The move to ‘clean’ torture
		Deliberate permanency: when histories of torture lack an ending
	The impacts and effects of torture
		Impacts reported by practitioners working with survivors
		Psychological
		Physical and somatic
		‘Wandering throughout lives’: social, cultural and relational
	Conclusion
3 ‘I Wouldn’t Call it Torture’: Conceptualizing Torturous Violence
	Introduction: thinking beyond states and state institutions
	The legal and epistemological expansion of definitions of violence
	What is torturous violence?
		Moving from who perpetrates violence and why, to the infliction and impact of violence
		‘It’s non-stop. The violence continues’: domestic and interpersonal violence as torturous
		Childhood and families: recognizing trajectories of torturous violence
		“I wouldn’t call it torture, though”: conflict within discourses
	Expanding the realms of infliction: witnessing, borders and sociospatial shifts
		Spatial continuums of torturous violence through bordering
	A note on discourse: the outcome of being gender neutral is not neutrality
	Conclusion
4 Sexualized Torture and Sexually Torturous Violence
	Introduction
		Why set this chapter as a standalone form of torture and torturous violence?
	Sexualized violence, sexualized torture and sexually torturous violence
		Saying and seeing sexualized violence: linguistic barriers to recognition
	International developments on the recognition of sexualized violence as war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture
		Sexualized violence as torture when perpetrated by state actors in state facilities
		Sexualized violence as torture when perpetrated by non-state actors, outside of state institutions
	Sexualized violence against men and boys
		Forms of violence against men
		Masculinity, sexuality and violence
	Sexualized violence and sexually torturous violence in broader social narratives
		Cavity searches as state-sanctioned sexualized torture
	Conclusion: moving from intent to effect?
5 Experiential Epistemologies: Embedding the Lived Experience of Women Survivors
	Introduction
	Women’s words in a chamber of echoes
	Intersectional continuums of experiential knowledge: insights from survivors
		Antonia
		Faiza
		Jazmine
		Mahira
		Asma
		Nour
	Recognizing torturous violence and its impacts
	Making the personal political in practice
	Conclusion
6 Unsilencing
	Introduction: unpacking the shroud of silence
	Architectures of silence
	The potential implications of unsilencing
	Conclusion
7 Addressing and Responding to Torture and Torturous Violence
	Introduction
	Addressing social silence, increasing consciousness: societal gaps in the recognition of trajectories of violence
		The significance of intersectional feminism in consciousness, practice and approach
		Separating sexual experiences from experiences of sexualized violence and torture in language
	Barriers to supporting refugee survivors: the compounding of trauma through border harms
		Support is impeded by broader structural architectures of bordering and asylum systems
	Recognizing and addressing impacts on practitioners as well as survivors
	Practitioner ideas for best supporting survivors: what would work in an ideal world?
	Reflecting on inequalities in wealth and finance distribution
	Conclusion
	Suggested further reading
		Responding to torture and survivors of trauma
		Undertaking research in sensitive topics
		Model toolkits for understanding asylum processes
Notes
References
Index