Helen Jane Liebling, Hazel Rose Barrett and Lillian Artz
This British Academy/Leverhulme-funded research (Grant number: SG170394) investigated the experiences and impact of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and torture on South…
Abstract
Purpose
This British Academy/Leverhulme-funded research (Grant number: SG170394) investigated the experiences and impact of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and torture on South Sudanese refugees’ health and rights and the responses of health and justice services in Northern Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
It involved thematic analysis of the narratives of 20 men and 41 women refugees’ survivors of SGBV and torture; this included their experiences in South Sudan, their journeys to Uganda and experiences in refugee settlements. In total, 37 key stakeholders including health and justice providers, police, non-government and government organisations were also interviewed regarding their experiences of providing services to refugees.
Findings
All refugees had survived human rights abuses carried out in South Sudan, on route to Uganda and within Uganda. Incidents of violence, SGBV, torture and other human rights abuses declined significantly for men in Uganda, but women reported SGBV incidents. The research demonstrates linkages between the physical, psychological, social/cultural and justice/human rights impact on women and men refugees, which amplified the impact of their experiences. There was limited screening, physical and psychological health and support services; including livelihoods and education. Refugees remained concerned about violence and SGBV in the refugee settlements. While they all knew of the reporting system for such incidents, they questioned the effectiveness of the process. For this reason, women opted for family reconciliation rather than reporting domestic violence or SGBV to the authorities. Men found it hard to report incidences due to high levels of stigma and shame.
Research limitations/implications
Refugees largely fled South Sudan to escape human rights abuses including, persecution, SGBV and torture. Their experiences resulted in physical, psychological, social-cultural and justice effects that received limited responses by health and justice services. An integrated approach to meeting refugees’ needs is required.
Practical implications
The authors make recommendations for integrated gender sensitive service provision for refugees including more systematic screening, assessment and treatment of SGBV and torture physical and emotional injuries combined with implementation of livelihoods and social enterprises.
Social implications
The research demonstrates that stigma and shame, particularly for male refugee survivors of SGBV and torture, impacts on ability to report these incidents and seek treatment. Increasing gender sensitivity of services to these issues, alongside provision of medical treatment for injuries, alongside improved informal justice processes, may assist to counteract shame and increase disclosure.
Originality/value
There is currently a lack of empirical investigation of this subject area, therefore this research makes a contribution to the subject of understanding refugees’ experiences of SGBV and torture, as well as their perceptions of service provision and response. This subject is strategically important due to the pressing need to develop integrated, gendered and culturally sensitive services that listen to the voices and draw on the expertise of refugees themselves while using their skills to inform improvements in service responses and policy.
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Helen Jane Liebling, Hazel Rose Barrett, Lillian Artz and Ayesha Shahid
The study aimed to listen to refugee survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and/or torture and explore what justice meant to them in exile. This study argues that…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aimed to listen to refugee survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and/or torture and explore what justice meant to them in exile. This study argues that what the survivors who participated in this research wanted was “viable justice”. The research was funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survivor-focussed justice lens combined with a trauma-informed approach, narrative interviews were held with 41 women and 20 men refugee survivors living in refugee settlements in Northern Uganda. The researchers also conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 key informants including refugee welfare councils, the UN, civil society, non-government and government organisations. Thematic analysis of the data resulted in the following themes being identified: no hope of formal justice for atrocities that occurred in South Sudan; insecurity; lack of confidence in transitional justice processes in Ugandan refugee settlements; abuse and loss of freedom in refugee settlements; and lack of access to health and justice services in refugee settlements.
Findings
This study argues that what the survivors who participated in this research wanted was “viable justice”. That is justice that is survivor-centred and includes elements of traditional and transitional justice, underpinned by social justice. By including the voices of both men and women survivors of SGBV and/or torture and getting the views of service providers and other stakeholders, this paper offers an alternative form of justice to the internationally accepted types of justice, which offer little relevance or restitution to refugees, particularly where the crime has been committed in a different country and where there is little chance that perpetrators will be prosecuted in a formal court of law.
Research limitations/implications
The research findings are based on a small sample of South Sudanese refugees living in three refugee settlements in Northern Uganda. Thus, wider conclusions should not be drawn. However, the research does suggest that a “viable justice” approach should be implemented that is gender and culturally sensitive and which could also be trialled in different refugee contexts.
Practical implications
Improvements in refugee survivors’ dignity, resilience and recovery are dependent upon the active engagement of refugees themselves using a “survivor-focussed approach” which combines formal and community-based health services with traditional and transitional justice responses.
Social implications
The provision of a “viable justice approach” ensures those who have experienced SGBV and/or torture, and their families, feel validated. It will assist them to use their internal, cultural and traditional resilience and agency in the process of recovery.
Originality/value
The research findings are original in that data was collected from men and women survivors of SGBV and/or torture and service providers. The empirical evidence supports this study’s recommendation for an approach that combines both formal and survivor-focussed approaches towards health and viable justice services to meet the needs of refugees living in refugee settlements. This is a response that listens to and responds to the needs of refugee survivors in a way that continues to build their resilience and agency and restores their dignity.
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This chapter will examine the basis for the teaching of integrity-based competencies to prison officers as part of their training. This training underpins the performance of…
Abstract
This chapter will examine the basis for the teaching of integrity-based competencies to prison officers as part of their training. This training underpins the performance of prison officers in the execution of their daily workplace duties, and forms a part of the ‘Sustainable Justice’ approach to rehabilitation. At the heart of this approach is a desire to understand and explain how a prison officer can be taught to go beyond what is the basic requirement in their tasks, in order to deliver the ‘safe, secure and humane’ service required of them in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) Mission Statement. The degree of success in achieving this form of elevated integrity within the prison can be seen to impact upon the lives of the prisoners in the officer’s care, and on wider society as a whole.
This chapter will also discuss mentoring as a key form of learning within the prisons. While the world of the prison is one which is closed to many in society, the author gained insights when he worked as an ‘embedded sociologist’, working as the senior academic on the IPS recruit training programme for five years between 2008 and 2013 within Ireland’s prison system. Here, he used his academic experience to put together an award-winning academic programme with his colleagues and senior IPS training staff. This experience provided him with valuable sociological understandings into the hidden world of the Irish prison system, as well as the officers who work behind their walls.
Helen Liebling, Shani Burke, Simon Goodman and Daniel Zasada
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the key issues of concern for asylum seekers in the UK by focusing on their in depth talk about their experiences, a so far neglected…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the key issues of concern for asylum seekers in the UK by focusing on their in depth talk about their experiences, a so far neglected element in the current debate about asylum seeking.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved thematic analysis of asylum seekers’ accounts of their lives in their country of origin, their journeys to the UK and experiences following arrival. Nine participants took part in semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Analysis resulted in seven themes; the importance of safety, negative experiences of the Home Office, support, emotional effects, significance of family, hopes for the future and the positive experiences of living in the UK.
Research limitations/implications
Asylum seekers largely left their countries of origin to escape conflict, persecution, violence, arranged marriages and rape. They reported safety as a key concern and for this reason they were scared to return home.
Practical implications
The research found Asylum seekers have fled traumatic situations and then have a difficult time in the UK. A more compassionate and supportive approach is needed. Policy recommendations are made with the aim of improving service responses.
Social implications
The research demonstrates that the public understanding of asylum seeking does not match asylum seekers’ experiences and increased knowledge may help to improve this (mis) understanding.
Originality/value
There is currently a lack of literature and empirical investigation of this subject area, so this research makes a contribution to the field of understanding asylum seekers’ experiences. The paper's focus is original and important combining asylum seekers’ accounts of their experiences following arrival in the UK. This subject is strategically important due to the pressing need to develop holistic and culturally sensitive research, which bridges and informs academia, more sensitive service responses and civil society.
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The purpose of this paper is to report on the internal consistency, convergent validity and test-retest reliability of the Attitudes to Prisoners who Self-Harm scale (APSH). The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the internal consistency, convergent validity and test-retest reliability of the Attitudes to Prisoners who Self-Harm scale (APSH). The latter have yet to be examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants were prison staff with prisoner contact (N=97). Internal consistency of the APSH was examined using Cronbach’s α. Convergent validity of the APSH was examined by comparing it to the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale, a reliable and valid measure of healthcare staff attitudes to self-harm. Test-retest reliability was examined by re-administering the APSH one week after initial assessment (n=75).
Findings
The measure demonstrated adequate levels of internal consistency, convergent validity and test-retest reliability.
Originality/value
The findings support use of the APSH within custodial settings. It could be used to guide recruitment and training of prison officers that care for prisoners who self-harm and to evaluate the efficacy of their training. This would influence good practice.
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The purpose of this paper is to consider the methodological challenges to researching deaths after police contact in England and Wales. It proposes original and innovative…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the methodological challenges to researching deaths after police contact in England and Wales. It proposes original and innovative solutions to these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
Challenges such as access to data, sensitivity, limited academic literature and bias are considered. Designs to counter these challenges include using documentary data and examining events in one organisation through the prism of an adjacent organisation.
Findings
Subjects that are contentious and difficult to access can be researched by searching for a “way into” the key issues by using non-traditional data and an innovative approach.
Research limitations/implications
The implications of this paper are that other difficult to research areas of society might be accessed by using the approaches outlined.
Practical implications
The practical implications of the research are to highlight the usefulness of documentary data in researching issues relating to police and court proceedings.
Social implications
The research has impact because it demonstrates how research might be undertaken into contentious and difficult to research issues that are relevant to society. This may enable the formulation of future policy based on such research.
Originality/value
The research is of value because it demonstrates how obstacles to researching difficult to access areas of interest to criminology may be surmounted.
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Katie Marlow, Belinda Winder and Helen Jane Elliott
– The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the experiences of staff working with transgendered sex offenders in a prison setting.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the experiences of staff working with transgendered sex offenders in a prison setting.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilised a qualitative approach, with semi-structured interviews used to explore the experiences of staff working with transgendered sexual offenders (n=6). Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Three themes were identified in the data. The first relates to how staff become educated on transgender issues and the content of this information. The second describes situations in which boundaries are overstepped by both transgender offenders and others in the prison. The third relates to the ways in which staff manage change, such as tailoring treatment to specific needs and being mindful of what adaptations may be required.
Research limitations/implications
The main drawback of this research was the limited sample; female prison staff. Future research should expand this sample to encompass male staff and staff working in alternate category prisons.
Practical implications
The research illustrates the utility of staff collaboration with transgendered sex offenders on transgender issues but also suggests some additional guidance is required when it comes to determining the boundaries. Staff may also benefit from more education on the possible ways in which a transgendered identity can impact on criminogenic needs.
Originality/value
The present research offers insight into the current state of care and management of transgendered offenders in custody and the nature of interactions between staff and this minority group. At present, there is limited research in this area.
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Asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants’ access to healthcare vary in South Africa and Cape Town due to unclear legal status. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the…
Abstract
Purpose
Asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants’ access to healthcare vary in South Africa and Cape Town due to unclear legal status. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the source of this variation, the divergence between the 1996 South African Constitution, the immigration laws, and regulations and to describe its harmful consequences.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on legal and ethnographic research, this paper documents the disjuncture between South African statutes and regulations and the South African Constitution regarding refugees and migrants’ access to healthcare. Research involved examining South African jurisprudence, the African Charter, and United Nations’ materials regarding rights to health and health care access, and speaking with civil society organizations and healthcare providers. These sources inform the description of the immigrant access to healthcare in Cape Town, South Africa.
Findings
Asylum-seekers and refugees are entitled to health and emergency care; however, hospital administrators require documentation (up-to-date permits) before care can be administered. Many immigrants – especially the undocumented – are often unable to obtain care because of a lack of papers or because of “progressive realization,” the notion that the state cannot presently afford to provide treatment in accordance with constitutional rights. These explanations have put healthcare providers in an untenable position of not being able to treat patients, including some who face fatal conditions.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited by the fact that South African courts have not adjudicated a direct challenge to being refused care at healthcare facility on the basis of legal status. This limits the ability to know how rights afforded to “everyone” within the South African Constitution will be interpreted with respect to immigrants seeking healthcare. The research is also limited by the non-circulation of healthcare admissions policies among leading facilities in the Cape Town region where the case study is based.
Practical implications
Articulation of the disjuncture between the South African Constitution and the immigration laws and regulations allows stakeholders and decision-makers to reframe provincial and municipal policies about healthcare access in terms of constitutional rights and the practical limitations accommodated through progressive realization.
Social implications
In South Africa, immigration statutes and regulations are inconsistent and deemed unconstitutional with respect to the treatment of undocumented migrants. Hospital administrators are narrowly interpreting the laws to instruct healthcare providers on how to treat patients and whom they can treat. These practices need to stop. Access to healthcare must be structured to comport with the constitutional right afforded to everyone, and with progressive realization pursued through a non – discriminatory policy regarding vulnerable immigrants.
Originality/value
This paper presents a unique case study that combines legal and social science methods to explore a common and acute question of health care access. The case is novel and instructive insofar as South Africa has not established refugee camps in response to rising numbers of refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. South Africans thus confront a “first world” question of equitable access to healthcare within their African context and with limited resources in a climate of increasing xenophobia.