Within the EU-funded project Action for Freedom from Torture in Tajikistan, the Civil Society Coalition Against Torture and Impunity in Tajikistan (‘the Coalition’) on October 27-29 conducted a training ‘Improving psychologists’ skills in psychological assessment, diagnosis and rehabilitation of torture survivors and/or members of their families’, according to the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan.
The purpose of the training was in increasing the capacity of psychologists to rehabilitate victims of torture and their families, as well as enhancing their competence with regard to mechanisms and methods of psychological assessment before and after rehabilitation.
Training participants reportedly included 16 psychologists from psychology departments in the country’s higher education institutions (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Sughd Province, Khatlon Province and Dushanbe City), as well as practicing psychologists from NGOs.
The training was facilitated by Lilit Gevorgyan, an international expert/psychologist at the rehabilitation center for torture victims in Armenia, and Gulnora Gulmirzoyeva the national expert in child psychology.
Further on, psychologists who completed the training will be involved in providing psychological assistance to torture survivors and/or members of their families.
Since the beginning of 2017, assistance in rehabilitation has been provided to 35 victims, of whom 21 were men and 14 were women. Twenty-one victims were directly affected by torture and ill-treatment, while the remaining 14 are relatives of victims of torture and ill-treatment. Six victims are minor children.
The Group for the Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors and/or Members of Their Families is one of the working groups affiliated with the Coalition. The Group’s activities are aimed at providing the maximum possible assistance to victims in restoring their independence, as well as physical, mental, social and professional capabilities, and in assisting their full integration and participation in the life of the society.
