FEATURE
SURVIVORS OF TORTURE :
TRUST , TACT , TIME AND TENDERNESS
AUTHORS Tom James , MD , Liz Edghill , RN & Pam Ratcliffe , LCSW
Life is hard — everyone has difficult times . The past 18 months have pushed those of us in medicine beyond the imaginable . Yet , in our communities there are tens of thousands of people of all ages whose lives have been shaped by horrors that are truly unfathomable to us . We have witnessed the face of torture among refugees , right here in Louisville .
Refugees flee conditions we hear about or see on the news . Their suffering may feel remote to us . In reality , people who have seen or survived actual torture live right here . But many of us have never learned to recognize their pain and misery . We may even provide care to them but cannot comprehend that defining side of their humanity .
People who have suffered physical or psychological torture may repress their experiences when they emigrate . But data about the prevalence of torture among the world ’ s refugee population suggest that between 5 % and 69 % of refugees have experienced it . Since 1994 , over 30,800 refugees have resettled in Kentucky . At the close of 2019 , Kentucky ranked fifth nationally in the number of refugees accepted . As of Sept . 15 , 2021 , Louisville ’ s resettlement agencies reported capacity to resettle 1,655 additional refugees and
50 Special Immigrant Visa holders ( SIVs ) during the 2022 Fiscal Year . Resettlement areas in Kentucky include Bowling Green , Owensboro and Lexington with plans to establish more formal channels in Northern Kentucky as well . Survivors of Torture programming started in Louisville in 2012 and has recently expanded to Lexington and Owensboro .
Torture occurs at the hands of people acting in an official capacity and is often based on a person ’ s ethnicity , race , religion , sexual orientation , political affiliation or participation in activism . It is a tool to oppress individuals , to break apart communities or organized groups . The very nature of torture creates an intentional web of fear in the community . If it could happen to my friend , then it could happen to me or to a member of my family . Thus , small inoculations of physical or psychological torture create a ripple effect of fear in a larger group . Despite international conventions against torture , the practice remains prevalent in over 140 countries . A small percentage of those who are able to escape end up as refugees or asylum seekers in the US . They arrive broken and living in a state of chronic fear .
Survivors of torture face extreme challenges , and we can help them here in Louisville . Joseph was a government worker in a central African country . For almost a year , he received no compensation . His family could not continue to live on the subsistence available to them . Joseph ’ s request for the wages due was perceived as com-
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