Sexual Assault as Torture
By Elyse Chadwick
Presenting with CVT's Sharyn Larson, P.H.N., Libby Tata Arcel, M.A., asserted "rape
happens because rape is allowed."
Drawing from codes of conduct endorsed by military movements throughout the world, Arcel
said it is this unwritten permission
that sustains sexual violence as torture.
Across history, there have been sharp contrasts in war-time directives relating to sexual
torture, said Arcel, ranging from the
extreme "anything goes" of Stalin's Soviet troops moving through Tito's
Yugoslavia, to the overall restraint of the North
Vietnamese Army under Ho Chi Minh.
Both Arcel and Larson stressed that it is only recently, particularly with the close of
the Bosnian conflict, that sexual assault has
ascended to the level of criminal aggression with punitive consequences. The lasting
impact on refugees and torture survivors
includes the destruction of identity, the loss of trust, the avoidance of discussing past
trauma with family members, and a general
sense that the world lacks meaning.
Methods of treatment, Larson explained, must take into account the individual's own coping
strategies. "These women are really
trying to function in their daily lives. We have to remember that they use their own ways
of survival. It is very important for us to
know them and not to violate them."
Larson described principles for intervention at CVT such as strict confidentiality,
efforts to encourage the survivor's control over
her own body, and a consistent respect for physical boundaries set by the client.
Because the nature of sexual torture is intimate violation, there is most commonly shame
and self-blame at the heart of survivors'
fears, noted Arcel.
"They are often told by their torturer that no one will believe them, that they have
brought this on themselves," Larson explained.
"This is why we have to show them that we believe."