Protection and the poor

This project is a multidisciplinary study of the challenges involved in protecting survivors of torture and ill-treatment living in Low-Income Countries. People living in poor and marginal communities are often particularly vulnerable to torture, yet at the same time, they can face serious obstacles accessing justice. Above all, they can fear reprisals and stigmatization if they seek legal accountability. Adequate protection mechanisms are therefore crucial to ensuring the dignity of survivors. Unless protection issues are taken seriously, the forms of violence experienced by poor will remain largely unrecognized . The project engages with human rights activists, lawyers and policy makers, and focuses initially on two country case studies, Kenya and Sri Lanka, before broadening out to draw more global and comparative lessons for the protection of survivors. It is based on long standing research collaborations and experience of practitioner engagement.

The project explores how poor people seek protection from torture and ill-treatment in the absence of formalized forms of protection in the human rights world