Defending Human Rights: A Resource Book for Human

Establishes commemorative practices to recognize survivors and thos
Continuum of Care
If we expand the circles of solidarity into further circles of support, a conti
and many other factors arise that are important to consider. These new e
• Acquire supportive skills to cope – to listen, give a
person space and privacy. To offer non-judgmental
support and be available to the survivor.
• Recognize traumatic effects on family – it is difficult
to realize that the person who comes back may
no longer be the same as before. Because of a
disappearance, a child has lost a parent, a wife a
husband, a parent a child. When the disappeared
person returns, things can be very different – the
child may develop anger at being “abandoned”
by the parent and gender roles within the family
may change because the wife has had to take on
less traditional roles during the absence of her
spouse. The fabric of the family can be damaged
because of this.
• Form link to community – access available
services, counselling and rehabilitation. Linking
with other organizations to build solidarity and
community.
At the societal and institutional level, the
community:
• Provides opportunities for justice and recognition
– through truth and reconciliation processes,
courts and redress.
• Education, health and social services are available
and accessible – it is not enough to have a clinic
that specializes in rehabilitation of survivors
of torture. The clinic must also be accessible
politically, geographically and financially.
• Creates conditions to initiate social
reconciliation.
• Establishes commemorative practices to recognize
survivors and those who did not survive.
Continuum of Care
If we expand the circles of solidarity into further
circles of support, a continuum of care is generated
and many other factors arise that are important to
consider. These new elements include:
Personal
Support
(Friends,
Hobbies)
Family
Networks
(Safe Home)
Specialized
Services
Institutional
Support
(Hospitals,
© CCVT, Toronto - Canada 2005
Community
Agencies
(NGOs)
To translate the continuum of care into a
cohesive scope of services and a true community
T
development of care into a model, cohesive a scope further of services expansion and a true community developme
of the expansion circles of is the needed. circles is This needed. is necessary This is necessary to to ensure movement
ensure movement from a circle of personal
empowerment where personal perceptions of power are developed to th
empowerment where personal perceptions of
group development . There social supports result in personal behaviour
power are developed to the next circle of small
group to a community organization circle which develops local actions
group development. There social supports result
in personal
issues, promotes
behaviour
community/professional
changes and leads
dialogues,
the
raises conflict to the
group usually to a establishes community links organization with other community circle groups, which thus forming the n
develops advocacy local , lobbying actions for on healthier community public defined policies, issues, achieving strategic cons
promotes collaboration community/professional and conflict resolution. Many dialogues, times a fifth circle of political a
raises the conflict chain of circles to the which conscious ends again level. in a This state usually of personal empowerment
establishes support broader links with social other movements, community creating groups, a vision of a sustainable, pref
thus participatory forming the democracy. next circle of coalition and
advocacy, lobbying for healthier public policies,
achieving strategic consensus and conducive to
collaboration and conflict resolution. Many times
a fifth circle of political action is needed to close
the chain of circles which ends again in a state of
personal empowerment. Such political actions
support broader social movements, creating a vision
of a sustainable, preferred future and enhanced
participatory democracy.
The strategy followed by CCVT to ensure that the
below processes takes place includes specially
designed services such as settlement counselling,
English as a Second Language (designed for
traumatized survivors), befriending members of
the community and links to professional services
for therapy and/or medico-legal documentation.
Ongoing mutual support groups (peer support)
also prepare survivors to engage with the larger
system described above. While CCVT’s services
are created for survivors of torture who generally
come as refugees to Canada (hence the settlement
counselling and language training), how the
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Defending Human Rights: A Resource Book for Human Rights Defenders | 2nd Edition