Documentation of torture in children and young adults: Time to reflect
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/torture.v29i1.114028Keywords:
Istanbul Protocol, torture documentation, torture in children and young adultsAbstract
Documenting torture in children and young adults (ChYA) is a challenge. Less than 3% of academic papers on documentation and rehabilitation of torture victims are focused on children and youth. In the Delphi study on research priorities in the sector (Pérez-Sales, Witcombe, & Otero Oyague, 2017), five lines were proposed regarding torture in children, which covered: developmental disruptions related to the torture of relatives; developmental deficits related to infant torture; the effect on caregivers of torture/kidnapping of their children; the impact of torture on identity and worldviews among adolescents; and transgenerational trauma. The latter was considered among the 40 top research priorities. In this editorial, we briefly review: aspects related to the notion of torture as applied to ChYA; specific ethical problems in forensic documentation; and challenges in consistency statements. By doing so, we aim to outline key challenges that researchers and practitioners ought to pursue.
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