Search Results (59)

Background: Torture, as a fundamental violation of human rights, is unequivocally condemned by all international organizations. Sexual torture is one of the most severe forms of torture, encompassing forced nudity, various forms of humiliation, and physical abuse, including rape. Despite testimonial evidence indicating the incidental use of sexual torture by Israeli authorities, there is a lack of epidemiological research providing a comprehensive understanding of this issue. This study aims to analyze the prevalence and characteristics of ill treatment and sexual torture among Palestinian male detainees and the subsequent impacts. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed a database of 517 former male detainees. The interview protocol included items related to psychological and physical methods of sexual torture, medical impacts, subjective psychological impacts, clinical medical and psychological measures, and psychosocial and community impacts. Results: The findings indicate that the majority of detainees experienced some form of sexual torture, with humiliation being the most common type. The impact of sexual torture are severe, affecting both clinical and social domains. The impacts of sexual torture persist over time and, in some cases, worsen, particularly regarding physical health outcomes. Socially, the consequences extend to the detainees’ families and communities. Conclusions: The prevalence of such torture tactics calls for urgent responses from both the authorities and civil society. These findings highlight the need for proactive measures to address and mitigate the impacts of sexual torture, including independent investigations, robust monitoring, secure reporting mechanisms, the prosecution of perpetrators and comprehensive reparation for victims. Full article

Background: Psychiatrists operate at the interface of clinical care, legal frameworks, and governmental power, where external pressures and insufficient safeguards can potentially engender ethical vulnerabilities. Supranational instruments and wider professional standards notwithstanding, the extent to which national-level psychiatric associations articulate protections against torture and abusive practices in their ethical codes remains underexplored. Methods: A cross-sectional documentary audit was conducted of all 145 World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Member Societies, representing ≈250,000 psychiatrists globally. National-level psychiatric ethical codes were located via systematic web searches and examined for clauses specifically referencing torture or analogous abuses and for any associated enforcement procedures. Results: Only nineteen (13.1%) WPA Member Societies maintained publicly accessible ethical codes, with ten (6.9%) containing explicit provisions proscribing torture and associated abuses. These predominantly originated from high-income countries or jurisdictions with documented histories of human rights violations. Most codes invoked broad principles without directly addressing such abuses, and fewer than half delineated any enforcement mechanisms. Conclusions: Gaps persist in ethical governance and human-rights safeguards amongst WPA Member Societies. Although beneficence and non-maleficence provide moral foundations for psychiatric practice, generic commitments alone may prove inadequate under duress. Strengthening anti-torture prohibitions within national-level psychiatric codes could therefore help support ethical resilience and accountability in situations of institutional or political coercion. Full article

Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a persistent public health and human rights challenge globally, with South Africa experiencing some of the highest rates. This study investigates the intersection between partner substance use, controlling behaviours, and women’s risk of experiencing emotional, physical, and sexual IPV. Using nationally representative data from the South African Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS), a weighted sample of 2354 women was analysed. Findings show that 41.8% of women reported that their partners used alcohol and/or drugs, and IPV prevalence among this group was 36.38%. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that partner substance use more than doubled the risk of emotional violence and nearly tripled the risk of physical and sexual violence. Controlling behaviours also emerged as significant predictor, with affected women facing up to nine times higher odds of IPV. These findings highlight the urgent need for integrated intervention strategies that address substance abuse and coercive control within intimate relationships. Prevention efforts must be context-specific, targeting underlying behavioural and gendered power dynamics to reduce IPV and improve women’s safety. Full article

Background: Displaced individuals endure challenges, including conflict, forced migration, family separation, human rights violations, limited access to essential services, and increased exposure to violence and abuse. These hardships significantly impact their mental health, often leading to heightened trauma-related symptoms. Methods: We used a cross-sectional correlational design in refugee camps, homes, and centers across Jordan and Spain. 200 refugees with confirmed status in the past ten years were recruited. Demographic data were collected via a demographic form, the PTSD-8 Inventory assessed traumatic symptoms, and data analysis included descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Chi-square tests. Results: Most participants had a secondary education, were unemployed, and had low incomes. PTSD symptoms were prevalent, with rates of recurrent thoughts (63.5%), re-experiencing events (57.5%), nightmares (50.5%), sudden reactions (56.5%), activity avoidance (53.5%), avoidance of specific thoughts or feelings (56.5%), jumpiness (53.5%), hypervigilance (53.5%), feeling on guard (41.5%), and general avoidance (43.5%) rated from rarely to most of the time. All symptoms were significantly more frequent among refugees in Jordan than in Spain. Conclusions and Recommendations: Intrusive thoughts were more frequent among females, urban residents, and unemployed individuals. Avoidance behaviors were higher in married and unemployed individuals. Hypervigilance was more prevalent among females, married individuals, and those with lower incomes. Regionally, females and married individuals in Jordan exhibited more intrusive thoughts and avoidance. In Spain, intrusive thoughts and hypervigilance were more common among females and the unemployed. The findings highlight the urgent need for targeted mental health interventions, particularly in refugee camps like those in Jordan, where PTSD symptom rates were significantly higher. Programs should prioritize trauma-focused therapies, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, while adopting gender-sensitive approaches to address the heightened vulnerability of women and unemployed individuals. Given the strong link between unemployment and symptom severity, livelihood support and vocational training should be integrated into psychosocial care. Policymakers in host countries like Jordan could benefit from adopting integration strategies similar to Spain’s, which may contribute to lower PTSD prevalence. Additionally, community-based awareness initiatives could improve early symptom recognition and access to care. Future research should explore longitudinal outcomes to assess the long-term impact of displacement and resettlement conditions on mental health. Full article

Healthcare abuse is a critical human rights and public health issue, particularly impacting medical interns and trainees who are vulnerable to mistreatment during their formative professional years. This cross-sectional study, conducted from February to June 2024, evaluated the prevalence and psychological impact of harassment and discrimination among 463 healthcare interns in Saudi Arabia from various specialties, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry. Using a self-administered online questionnaire, we found that mistreatment was widely reported, with female interns experiencing significantly higher rates of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination. Common perpetrators included residents, lecturers, professors, nurses, and patients, with incidents most frequently occurring in surgical and internal medicine departments. Despite high prevalence, only 9% of interns reported the abuse due to mistrust in reporting systems or failure to recognize the behavior as abuse. These experiences were associated with significant psychological distress, including frustration, reduced motivation to learn, and higher DASS scores, particularly among female interns. The study underscores the need for institutional reforms, including policy development, cultural change, and effective reporting systems to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for future healthcare professionals. Addressing abuse in medical training is essential for individual well-being and the sustainability and integrity of healthcare systems. Full article

Occupational exposures in the agricultural industry globally have been associated with heightened risk for several diseases. Reports written in South Africa in the last decade have raised awareness of the harsh occupational conditions and human rights abuses suffered by farmworker communities in the wine industry. Despite receiving “fair trade” labels upon reentry into the global market in the 1990s, the working conditions on wine farms in South Africa have remained unchanged and exploitative for centuries. Farmworkers remain dependent on substandard farm housing, have insecure land tenure rights, are exposed to toxic pesticides, are denied access to benefits and unionization, and endure long working hours in harsh environmental conditions with low pay. These occupational conditions are linked to interacting disease clusters: metabolic syndrome, problematic drinking, and communicable diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, and COVID-19. This milieu of interacting diseases with deleterious outcomes is an under-considered occupational syndemic that will likely worsen given both the lasting impacts of COVID-19 and more recent shifts in global public health funding. Full article

The global COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant threat to public health, inflicting enduring hardships upon humanity, particularly among vulnerable populations. Artisanal cross-border fish traders from developing countries like Malawi were severely impacted by imposed control measures. Gender inequalities exacerbated these challenges, forming the basis of this study on informal cross-border traders along the Malawi–Mozambique border near Lake Chilwa during the pandemic. Using an intersectional theory, this research explores how gender disparities were shaped by COVID-19, considering social determinants, consequences, and coping mechanisms in cross-border fish trading. The study employed a cross-sectional qualitative approach, collecting data from 169 participants through focus group discussions (FGDs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), the Cognitive Edge Sensemaker Tool, and the Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis toolkit (EMMA) between April and November 2022. Findings indicate that COVID-19 control measures disproportionately affected female cross-border fish traders, leading to increased human rights violations, particularly sexual exploitation and rape. These violations left women with enduring health traumas, including sexually transmitted diseases. Both men and women employed coping strategies that exposed women to further marginalization and human rights violations. Given the widespread nature of violence across borders, inter-country coordination is crucial to protect the rights of cross-border traders. Policy measures should focus on educating vulnerable women about reporting mechanisms for abusive practices and establishing local support systems where reporting mechanisms are lacking. Full article

Elder abuse is an increasingly significant public health and human rights issue in aging and long-lived societies. Despite existing intervention strategies, the lack of emergency housing tailored to older victims of abuse remains a critical gap. This study explores professionals’ perceptions of elder abuse, response measures, and challenges in addressing abuse, with a focus on rural regions. A survey was conducted among 100 first responders—social workers and police officers—who intervene in cases of elder abuse. Results indicate significant differences in perceptions of elder abuse severity, with social workers consistently rating all forms of elder abuse as more severe compared to police officers. Both groups highlighted the necessity of multidisciplinary teams, crisis centers, and safe houses as essential responses but recognized a lack of specialized infrastructure and resources as a significant challenge. Respondents emphasized that victims’ reluctance to report abuse due to family dynamics, shame, and isolation further complicates intervention efforts. Good practices identified interinstitutional collaboration, building victim trust, and proactive interventions. The findings underscore the need for age-appropriate safe spaces, improved professional training, and enhanced community awareness to address elder abuse effectively. Full article

Background: Unfulfillment of maternity rights in healthcare is a global problem associated with abuse, neglect and discrimination, known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) vulnerability. Women’s perceptions of their experience are a keystone to improving maternity healthcare. The aim of this study was to evaluate the women’s perceptions of the vulnerability of maternity rights and the associated risk and protective factors. Methods: This study was carried out by qualitative techniques based on the analysis of a semi-structured interview applied to six women in the postpartum period with pregnancy assistance and birth in Spain and Colombia between February and August of 2024. A triangulation analysis was performed about the perceptions of the concept, experiences and risk and protective factors of OB/GYN vulnerability. The free-access ATLAS.ti software was used. Results: OB/GYN vulnerability is generally perceived by women with a psychological impact. Women think that their own factors (emotion management, social support, attitude to change and beliefs), health professional factors (burnout, empathy and social skills) and health institution factors (workload, centralization in technical and protocols, humanization, quality and access to recourses) have an influence to modulate the vulnerability of rights in maternity healthcare. Conclusions: It is necessary for health systems to move from a protocol-centered to a person-centered model, particularly in maternity healthcare. This model should include the biopsychosocial needs of women and allow for their participation. Health institutions need to evaluate their processes and minimize burnout in health professionals. In addition, there are factors affecting OB/GYN vulnerability not only in childbirth but also during pregnancy and postpartum. Full article

The ethical theories considered in this commentary include Anthropocentrism, Dominionism, Utilitarianism, Reverence for Life, Animal Rights, Biocentrism, Ecocentrism and Care Ethics. It is apparent that Utilitarianism provides a motivating rationale for devising legal instruments to manage animal welfare in many countries. The emphasis of different laws spanning many decades paralleled the trajectory of changing attitudes to animals. Initial laws focussed on serious abuse, and were enacted to deal with relative indifference to animal suffering. Anticruelty laws followed; they dealt with a wider range of noxious acts that also cause suffering. Animal Protection laws accommodated a growing acceptance that much less severe, yet still very unpleasant experiences, are of significant welfare concern. These laws and their amendments, plus the associated instruments (e.g., Codes of Welfare/Practice), were increasingly couched using animal welfare terminology. Finally, contemporary laws that focus directly to animal welfare, increasingly refer to a ‘duty of care’ towards animals, entailing responsibilities to minimise negative experiences and to promote positive ones. Outlined here is an example of an ethically-based legal structure for providing guidance and outlining requirements for animal welfare management nationally. It has four interacting levels: Level 1—Law; Level 2—Codes of Welfare/Practice; Level 3—Regulations; and Level 4—Cooperation at a National Level. It is noted that although the framing of this legal structure is based on ethical principles, the expression of those principles is more implicit than explicit. However, expression of the ethical principles can be made much more explicit when putting into effect legal requirements to assess the acceptability of different practices in animal welfare terms. There are four interacting steps in this process: Step 1—the Primary Assumption: Animals have intrinsic value and an interest in having good lives. Step 2—Distribution of Responsibility: Humans usually control human-animal interactions and have an overarching responsibility to operate two principles: (1) If in doubt err on the side of the animal; (2) If there are justified concerns, a lack of evidence can never in itself justify a practice. Step 3—Assessment of Impact on the Animals: Use a structured framework to assess the impact of human-initiated activities. The Five Domains Model is suggested as a suitable device for this. Step 4—Rigorous Evaluation: the aim, to choose the least noxious intervention as required by the Principle of Proportionality which, once chosen, supports a justification to proceed. This commentary provides examples of how ethical reasoning, and its operational consequences, can be made visible at every stage of developing, introducing and operating infrastructures for managing animal welfare nationally. Full article

After his questionable re-election in 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros (NMM) began a campaign to attract the attention of evangelical leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors, and church members to secure their votes for the 2024 campaign. The main reason for this move was the surprising growth of the evangelical population in the country, which reached almost 30% by the end of 2023. Several independent churches and denominations accepted NMM’s invitation to meet and participate in government programs specifically targeted at evangelical churches. Despite allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and violations of the Venezuelan constitution, some evangelicals created a narrative about NMM as the “protector of families” and as God’s chosen one to usher in a new era of prosperity for the nation. Through acts of “identificational” repentance staged at the Miraflores Palace, a contrite NMM received prophetic declarations and prayers from apostles and pastors, and the country was cleansed of curses and satanic influences. This article seeks to document, analyze, and situate these discourses in relation to contemporary theological trends, as an important case of evangelical alignment with left-wing politics in Latin America. Moreover, the article also seeks to show how these events relate to the evolution of Venezuelan evangelical involvement in national politics, particularly under 25 years of socialist governments of Hugo Chávez Frías and Nicolás Maduro Moros. Full article

This article outlines the experiences of young widows in southern Africa and the impact of widowhood on their livelihoods. Despite numerous human rights frameworks addressing women’s issues, widowhood has not received adequate attention in the Global South. Widows often endure terrible and abusive treatment during widowhood. This study focuses on women’s perspectives by examining the impact of widowhood issues through case studies. The data were obtained from interviews conducted in a larger study on widowhood issues in South Africa. It explores the experiences and challenges five young widows face, analyses societal perceptions of widowhood, and examines the familial imperatives surrounding widowhood. Intersectionality theory was adopted in this article. The results show that young widows face serious inheritance challenges and abuse at the hands of their in-laws. Because the young widows viewed widowhood rites as part of their culture, they were not opposed to them. Full article

(1) Background: This article addresses the harmful traditional practice of breast ironing, which primarily affects girls and adolescents in several countries, particularly in Cameroon. The practice involves applying heat and pressure to developing breasts to delay their growth, with the goal of protecting girls from sexual abuse, early pregnancy, and forced marriages. While culturally accepted, breast ironing has severe physical, psychological, and social consequences, including damage to mammary glands, pain, infections, and potential long-term health complications. (2) Methods: A reflective analysis of the topic was conducted through a comprehensive search of various databases (PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and CINAHL) following narrative review methodology. (3) Results: The practice is also examined through the lens of human rights and Madeleine Leininger’s transcultural nursing theory, which promotes respect for cultural traditions in healthcare. However, the authors question whether such a theory can justify practices that violate women’s physical integrity. (4) Conclusions: This study concludes that while cultural beliefs must be considered in healthcare, human rights and the elimination of violent practices, such as breast ironing, must take precedence. Educational campaigns and a more punitive approach in countries where this practice occurs are proposed as essential steps forward. Full article

The Northern Triangle countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, are sources of a significant number of asylum seekers in the United States today. This article examines the underlying societal dynamics in these countries and considers the typical profile of transgender immigrant women seeking asylum in the U.S. on the legal grounds of having faced gender-based violence in their countries of origin. It analyzes the relevant international conventions as well as the social determinants of the health and mental health of transgender asylum seekers. It draws from 35 cases of transgender immigrant women subjected to child sexual abuse; sexual assault, including assault by police; and forced sex work; it reviews examples from the academic and gray literature, including a precedent-setting case heard before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. It discusses the implications for social science professionals, including the role of experts of country conditions. It provides guidance for immigrant service providers and advocates, particularly the importance of gender-affirming policies and healthcare to this population deserving of protection. Full article

The reception of the Decree Perfectae caritatis in Latin America can be understood in connection with the emergence of the preferential option for the poor and the call for consecrated religious life to the insertion since the 1960s. As part of the existing link between conciliar texts and renewal movements, it is worth highlighting the testimony of religious life lived in solidarity with the poor as a way of practicing chastity and incorporating sexuality. This topic is explored through the life stories of two individuals, Alice Domon in Argentina (1937–1977) and José Aldunate Lyon in Chile (1917–2019), within the framework of related studies on ethnographic ecclesiology and the theology of renewed religious life. Amidst military governments, institutional violence, abuses of power, and human rights violations, the lives of these two consecrated individuals showcase an alternative path marked by self-emptying, unwavering fidelity, non-violent action, and prophetic denunciation. The pursuit of integration between contemplative and apostolic aspects in the love for God and the poor, along with the defense of human rights in solidarity with the victims and their families, are some of the keys that define an adapted understanding of religious life in the Latin American context. Full article