2 ‘Wandering Throughout Lives’: Outlining Forms and Impacts of Torture
-
Victoria Canning
Abstract
The chapter moves to outline forms of torture documented historically, and how torture (in its narrowest definitional sense) is documented. This primarily considers two substantial works: Torture and Democracy by Darius Rejali, and This Side of Silence by Tobias Kelly. It outlines physical inflictions such as electrotorture, waterboarding, prolonged bath submersion and near-drowning, prodding, beating, induced stress positions and tortures such as noise, light and mock execution. Importantly, Rejali’s work has been fundamental in exploring the silencing effects of ‘clean’ torture – that is, torture which is inflicted in more subtle ways through stealth that become difficult or impossible to physically evidence. As Kelly went on to highlight, this has significant implications for survivors of torture who are seeking asylum, as well as obtaining justice for their subjections, since evidence is diminished and thus so is the burden of proof.
From this, we look at the forms of torture identified by practitioners working with survivors of torture and/or sexualized violence. This chapter broadens the scope of practitioner narratives included to draw correlations between forms of violence documented as torture, and those which are not. The latter part of this chapter shifts focus to look at the consequences and impacts of torture. It is important to highlight the complex specificities of these impacts here, so we can later draw correlations and distinctions in other chapters, as we then shift away from narrow definitions and towards the conceptualization of torturous violence in a broader and more experiential sense.
Abstract
The chapter moves to outline forms of torture documented historically, and how torture (in its narrowest definitional sense) is documented. This primarily considers two substantial works: Torture and Democracy by Darius Rejali, and This Side of Silence by Tobias Kelly. It outlines physical inflictions such as electrotorture, waterboarding, prolonged bath submersion and near-drowning, prodding, beating, induced stress positions and tortures such as noise, light and mock execution. Importantly, Rejali’s work has been fundamental in exploring the silencing effects of ‘clean’ torture – that is, torture which is inflicted in more subtle ways through stealth that become difficult or impossible to physically evidence. As Kelly went on to highlight, this has significant implications for survivors of torture who are seeking asylum, as well as obtaining justice for their subjections, since evidence is diminished and thus so is the burden of proof.
From this, we look at the forms of torture identified by practitioners working with survivors of torture and/or sexualized violence. This chapter broadens the scope of practitioner narratives included to draw correlations between forms of violence documented as torture, and those which are not. The latter part of this chapter shifts focus to look at the consequences and impacts of torture. It is important to highlight the complex specificities of these impacts here, so we can later draw correlations and distinctions in other chapters, as we then shift away from narrow definitions and towards the conceptualization of torturous violence in a broader and more experiential sense.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables vi
- About the Author vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Outline of Book x
- Introduction: Why ‘Torture and Torturous Violence’? 1
- Outlining the Definitional Boundaries of ‘Torture’ 13
- ‘Wandering Throughout Lives’: Outlining Forms and Impacts of Torture 38
- ‘I Wouldn’t Call it Torture’: Conceptualizing Torturous Violence 59
- Sexualized Torture and Sexually Torturous Violence 75
- Experiential Epistemologies: Embedding the Lived Experience of Women Survivors 101
- Unsilencing 119
- Addressing and Responding to Torture and Torturous Violence 144
- Notes 164
- References 167
- Index 181
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables vi
- About the Author vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Outline of Book x
- Introduction: Why ‘Torture and Torturous Violence’? 1
- Outlining the Definitional Boundaries of ‘Torture’ 13
- ‘Wandering Throughout Lives’: Outlining Forms and Impacts of Torture 38
- ‘I Wouldn’t Call it Torture’: Conceptualizing Torturous Violence 59
- Sexualized Torture and Sexually Torturous Violence 75
- Experiential Epistemologies: Embedding the Lived Experience of Women Survivors 101
- Unsilencing 119
- Addressing and Responding to Torture and Torturous Violence 144
- Notes 164
- References 167
- Index 181
