Torture and Torturous Violence

There is growing recognition that torture is very narrowly defined in domestic and international laws, and that the endemic nature of psychological and/or sexualised violence against women is not adequately recognized as torture. Concretely defining torturous violence, this book offers scholars and practitioners a nuanced way to critically reflect on how torture is defined, and the implications that narrow definitions may have on survivors. Drawing on over a decade of research and interviews with psychologists and women seeking asylum, it sets out the implications of social silencing of torture in its narrowest sense, and torturous violence more broadly. It invites us to consider alternative ways to understand and address the impacts of such endemic physical, sexualised and psychological abuses.