Citation

Asgary RG, Metalios EE, Smith CL, Paccione GA. Health Hum. Rights 2006; 9(2): 164-179.

Affiliation

Department of Internal Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA. rasgary@montefiore.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Harvard School of Public Health, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

17265759

Abstract

Primary care providers who evaluate torture survivors often lack formal training to identify and address their specific needs. We assessed 89 asylum seekers from 30 countries to evaluate the pattern, spectrum, and presentation of abuses and the outcomes of the medico-legal process of seeking asylum. Commonly reported reasons for abuse were political opinion/activity (59%), ethnicity (42%), and religion (32%). The most common means of abuse were punching/kicking (79%), sharp objects (28%), genital electric shock (8%), witnessing murder/decapitation (8%), and rape (7%). Persistent psychological symptoms were common; 40% had post-traumatic stress disorder. The high success rate of asylum approval (79%) in this sample highlights the need for physician witnesses trained in identification and documentation of torture, working in collaboration with human rights organizations.

Language: en