Announcements

CALL FOR PAPERS - SPECIAL SECTION ON ISRAEL & OCCUPIED PALESTINE

2024-11-07

The Palestinian people have endured a protracted process of occupation by Israel. This has resulted in a plethora of documented instances of human rights violations. One year after the Hamas attacks on 7th October 2023 in Israel and Israel's military campaign and associated grave human rights violations in Palestinian territory and other related Arab countries, it is an important duty to analyse emergent issues from a human rights perspective and for the Torture Journal to do so on matters within its scope.

To conduct an analysis in the context of an ongoing war and enormous suffering is undoubtedly complex. But epidemiology and health sciences have insights to contribute which go beyond calls for a cessation of violence and thus there is an ethical duty to try to do so.

From this standpoint, Torture Journal encourages the submission of academic papers that contribute to a more comprehensive and evidence-based understanding of torture, ill-treatment, and associated human rights violations in the current context, including legal, psychosocial and community impacts and peace-building through justice.

In pursuit of this, Torture Journal, as a space for reflection on torture, its impacts and models of prevention and rehabilitation, has constituted a broad set of editors, based on its Editorial Board and invited guests from different fields, to ensure a plurality of perspectives and an evidence-based approach.

Torture Journal encourages authors to submit papers on the Israeli-Palestinian situation, particularly those which are interdisciplinary.

We welcome papers on:

  1. The definition of torture, torturing or coercive environments, and epidemiological studies on its prevalence and characteristics in the framework of the conflict and the occupation.
  2. Particular victim groups, locations, specific vulnerabilities, concerning risks, impacts and needs, including, for instance, mental health patients, older adults or pregnant women.
  3. The situation for children growing up under an ongoing and armed conflict – consequences and possible remedies.
  4. Impacts and care of health workers amidst the conflict.
  5. Aspects related to the situation in places of detention or deprivation of liberty, official or clandestine, including both detainees, prisoners, hostages or any other form of deprivation of liberty.
  6. Sociological, psychosocial or anthropological work in connection with the field of torture and coercive or torturing environments in both Israel and Israeli occupied territories.
  7. Legal discussions in relation to applications before International Courts.
  8. Psychosocial and community impacts and interventions within the population.
  9. Forensic assessment of cases based on the Istanbul Protocol.
  10. Effective rehabilitation practices for civil society amidst the conflict.
  11. Transitional justice, peace-building and justice interventions involving torture survivors.

Due to the complex nature of the topic the Board will take particular editorial approaches. The Journal will not accept opinion pieces, reflections or letters to the editor which are not partially, and preferably totally, based on data or an academic analysis and review. Papers based on epidemiological studies will have to provide access to instruments and data for purposes of cross-checking, if the reviewers consider it necessary.

Submission guidelines

Deadline for submissions: 30th April 2025

For more information. If potential authors doubt the suitability of their contributions, they can send an outline of the paper to the Editor-in-Chief for additional guidance.

- Pau Pérez-Sales, Editor-in-Chief (pauperez@runbox.com)
- Berta Soley, Editorial Assistant (bso@irct.org)

Submission guidelines and links

Special Section Editors: Malcolm Evans (UK), Jens Simon Modvig (Denmark), Daniel Weishut (Israel), Tania Herbert (Australia), John Schiemann (US), Mahmud Sehwail (Palestine), Nora Sveaass (Norway)

Read more about CALL FOR PAPERS - SPECIAL SECTION ON ISRAEL & OCCUPIED PALESTINE

Current Issue

Vol. 34 No. 2 (2024): Torture Journal: Journal on Rehabilitaiton of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture

This issue is introduced by the Editorial, which outlines key considerations for cross-cultural assessments of torture survivors, covering concepts from anthropology, medicine, psychology, and psychiatry, and reviews the most relevant elements of a forensic report, focusing on cultural and ethical aspects of the Istanbul Protocol, addressing interviews, medical exams, and psychological evaluations, with attention to transcultural views on pain.

This issue includes a special section with contributions that explore the integration of livelihoods in the rehabilitation of torture survivors. Starting with a paper from Tania Herbert examining the intersect between livelihoods loss and torture, the importance of documenting livelihoods losses in torture assessments and the integration of livelihoods into rehabilitation programs. It provides a foundational framework for treatment centres to consider the integration of socio-economic support into rehabilitation programmes, in addition to psychological and medical care, to address the full impact of torture. The author advocates for a survivor-centered, evidence-based approach to restore sustainable livelihoods as part of comprehensive treatment efforts.

Berta Soley and Skyla Park present a paper which examines the short-term outcomes of five projects that integrate livelihoods support with mental health and psychosocial treatment for survivors of torture. These projects, conducted by IRCT member centers in Uganda, India, Lebanon, Nepal, and Palestine, aimed to enhance rehabilitation outcomes by addressing both socio-economic and psychological needs. The study’s preliminary results suggest that integrating livelihoods into rehabilitation improved participants’ well-being, social relationships, and community integration. However, limitations such as small sample sizes and short project durations make the results preliminary, highlighting the need for further research.

This is followed by a contribution by Khanal and colleagues, from one of the centres included in the study by Soley and Parks, assessing the outcomes of integrating livelihood support into mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programs for survivors of torture in western Nepal. Results show reductions in anxiety, depression, and PTSD, as well as increased self-confidence, social trust, and economic resilience. The study emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to rehabilitation, integrating livelihood support to enhance the well-being and social reintegration of torture survivors.

Likewise, Ayesha Mushtaq explores the integration of livelihood support with MHPSS in the rehabilitation of torture survivors in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using a cross-sectional study, it highlights the negative cycle of poverty and mental health faced by survivors, with 92% of respondents confirming a strong link between the two. The integration of livelihood support is found to improve mental health outcomes, economic stability, and social reintegration. The study further recommends enhancing coordination, securing sustainable funding, and implementing holistic rehabilitation programs to address survivors’ needs comprehensively.

The special section concludes with the contribution from Andreea Lachsz, which studies the incarcerated populations in Australia and the US, highlighting how many come from marginalized communities with histories of trauma, arguing that imprisonment adds to this trauma and calls for a shift in the criminal legal system from focusing on reducing reoffending to promoting healing. The author also advocates for stronger international legal protections and more research into the effectiveness of prison labour in supporting post-release livelihoods.

This issue also includes a research paper from Nielsen and colleagues that assesses the effectiveness of sleep-enhancing treatments, Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) and mianserin in trauma-affected refugees with PTSD. The study finds that IRT improved well-being six months post-treatment, but neither IRT nor mianserin showed significant benefits in sleep quality or other outcomes compared to TAU.

Published: 2024-09-25

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Special Section: Livelihoods

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PLEASE NOTE: A new website for the Torture Journal is under construction.

The Torture Journal is an international scientific journal that provides an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of original research and systematic reviews by professionals concerned with the biomedical, psychological and social interface of torture and the rehabilitation of its survivors.