Supporting Survival

A toolkit for supporting refugee survivors of torture and torturous violence

The nature of torture and torturous violence works to try and break people down, meaning survivors can experience stigma or shame. At the same time, practitioners who work with refugee populations are often confronted with the impacts of such violence without information on the subject.

To address gaps between research and practice, Lancaster University’s Professor Victoria Canning worked with the Danish Institute Against Torture to develop a card set and accompanying manual. It is now being used for information sharing, myth-busting, and encouraging positive practice for people working with refugee groups and/or survivors of torture and torturous violence.

The Project

The toolkit is a combination of research findings from 4 projects and over 12 years of collaboration between DIGNITY and Professor Canning. She states

‘Working with survivors and practitioners unearths the complex relationship between conflict, torture, migration and asylum. There are so many components to surviving violence, and indeed harmful asylum practices, that go unseen. I wanted to ensure that project findings weren’t academia but could be accessibly developed into tools for sharing experiences and practice. It was difficult to decide what should be prioritised and included, so running workshops with the insights of leading practitioners and gaining feedback from survivors formed the basis of a new approach to supporting both survivors, and the people who work to support in the survival journey’.

Toolkit Themes

The card set has 52 cards and has been divided into four main colour-coded themes (plus two information cards). The sections have been designed to highlight key issues that have been identified by survivors and practitioners and embed information from relevant legal conventions and academic and NGO reports. The Supporting Survival toolkit has been distributed to NGOs and partner organisations internationally. It was developed and designed by Victoria Canning, funded by UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, and printed by Calverts Coop.

Definitions

Definitions is a section which outlines some key terms and relevant conventions that may be useful for survivors, students and practitioners for understanding

Surviving Violence

Surviving violence draws from survivor and practitioner perspectives about aspects of survival journeys

Barriers to Support

Barriers to support identifies issues that can get in the way of accessing support

Embedding Positive Practice

Embedding positive practice outlines suggestions from leading practitioners such as psychologists, medical doctors, physiotherapists and counsellors who work with survivors of torture and torturous violence. This is the main audience this section has been developed for.

For further information on methods and a deeper discussion on definitions and research findings, please see Canning, V. (2023), Torture and Torturous Violence: Transcending Definitions of Torture, Bristol: Bristol University Press. Link to book: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/torture-and-torturous-violence