Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture
Encyclopedia
Freedom from Torture is the working name of The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture., . The organisation changed its name in 2011. Freedom from Torture is a British
registered charity which solely treats torture
survivors. Since it was established in 1985, over 50,000 people have been referred to the organisation for help.
Freedom from Torture provides medical and psychological documentation of torture, a range of therapies, including psychotherapy
, individual and family counselling, physiotherapy and complementary therapies and group work as well as practical advice and support. It trains health professionals and others throughout the UK to work with torture survivors.
Central to Freedom from Torture's vision are efforts to educate the public and decision makers about torture and its consequences, and through advocacy work strives to ensure that the UK honours its international obligations towards survivors of torture, asylum seekers and refugees.
Most importantly, Freedom from Torture is a place where survivors' experiences are recognised and where they can safely express their grief while working towards recovery.
. Volunteer health professionals, including some senior specialists in the medical profession, campaigned against violations of human rights
and documented evidence of torture.
During those years, clinicians gained expertise by working in the UK and abroad, where they concluded that existing health services did not meet the needs of torture survivors who had fled into exile.
In 1985, under the leadership of Helen Bamber
, Freedom from Torture was set up to provide survivors with medical treatment, counselling and therapy
and to document evidence of torture. The heads of three the Royal College of Physicians
, Royal College of Psychiatrists
and Royal College of Surgeons of England
agreed to sponsor the organisation.
From an inauspicious start in two rooms in the former National Temperance Hospital
, off Hampstead Road in north-west London
, the work of, the organisation grew rapidly. In 1990 the organisation treated 750 clients and moved to new premises in Grafton Road, Kentish Town
.
The first centre outside London opened in Manchester
in late 2003, treating clients living in the north-west.
In 2004, the London headquarters moved into a £5.8m new purpose-built treatment centre in Isledon Road, Finsbury Park, by architect Paul Hyett. Freedom from Torture’s Scotland
centre opened in Glasgow
soon afterwards, followed by the Newcastle
centre providing services across the north-east, in 2006.
Freedom from Torture's chief executive officer
is Keith Best, who succeeded Simon Carruth.
Over 200 paid and voluntary staff are employed across Freedom from Torture's four centres, including medical doctors
, caseworkers, counsellors, legal advisors, physiotherapists
, psychotherapists
, psychologist
s, interpreters
, child and family therapists and group workers.
Available for all services, the Freedom from Torture employs 75 interpreters who work in 50 regular languages and dialect
s, and additional languages can be catered for.
, with centres in Manchester
covering England's north-west, Newcastle
covering the north-east, Glasgow
covering the whole of Scotland
and Birmingham
.
The services offered by the national centres are constantly evolving to meet the needs of a growing population of torture surviving asylum seekers dispersed outside of London.
In 2007, Freedom from Torture’s four centres received nearly 2,000 new requests for help. Clients came from almost 100 countries, with significant numbers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran
, Sri Lanka
and Sudan
.
About 50% of clients referred are from African nations, 20% from the Middle East
, 18% from Asia
and 8% from Europe
.
Men account for about 58% of Freedom from Torture’s clients, with women comprising about 35% and children 7%.
The majority of Freedom from Torture’s clients are men aged 25–34 years, although clients aged over 60 and children as young as seven years old have been referred for help.
Ninety-nine per cent of Freedom from Torture clients are asylum seekers or refugees, who have fled torture
and persecution
usually in their home countries and are coping not just with past suffering but also the trauma of living in exile.
Donations from individuals provide the core income for the charity's work. In 2008, individual donations contributed 65% to the organisation's income (£4,785,000 of a total income of £7,382,000).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
registered charity which solely treats torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
survivors. Since it was established in 1985, over 50,000 people have been referred to the organisation for help.
Freedom from Torture provides medical and psychological documentation of torture, a range of therapies, including psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, individual and family counselling, physiotherapy and complementary therapies and group work as well as practical advice and support. It trains health professionals and others throughout the UK to work with torture survivors.
Central to Freedom from Torture's vision are efforts to educate the public and decision makers about torture and its consequences, and through advocacy work strives to ensure that the UK honours its international obligations towards survivors of torture, asylum seekers and refugees.
Most importantly, Freedom from Torture is a place where survivors' experiences are recognised and where they can safely express their grief while working towards recovery.
History
Freedom from Torture's work began in the early 1980s, under the auspices of the A letter to the British Medical Journal re: Amnesty International's Medical Group of Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
. Volunteer health professionals, including some senior specialists in the medical profession, campaigned against violations of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and documented evidence of torture.
During those years, clinicians gained expertise by working in the UK and abroad, where they concluded that existing health services did not meet the needs of torture survivors who had fled into exile.
In 1985, under the leadership of Helen Bamber
Helen Bamber
Helen Bamber OBE , is a psychotherapist who worked with Holocaust survivors in Germany after the concentration camps were liberated in 1945. In 1947, she returned to Britain and continued her work, helping to establish Amnesty International and later co-founding the Medical Foundation for Care of...
, Freedom from Torture was set up to provide survivors with medical treatment, counselling and therapy
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...
and to document evidence of torture. The heads of three the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Royal College of Psychiatrists
The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom responsible for representing psychiatrists, psychiatric research and providing public information about mental health problems...
and Royal College of Surgeons of England
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
agreed to sponsor the organisation.
From an inauspicious start in two rooms in the former National Temperance Hospital
National Temperance Hospital
The National Temperance Hospital is an abandoned hospital in Hampstead Road, London, near Camden Town. It opened on 6 October 1873 by initiative of the National Temperance League, and was managed by a board of 12 teetotallers...
, off Hampstead Road in north-west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the work of, the organisation grew rapidly. In 1990 the organisation treated 750 clients and moved to new premises in Grafton Road, Kentish Town
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The most widely accepted explanation of the name of Kentish Town is that it derived from 'Ken-ditch' meaning the 'bed of a waterway'...
.
The first centre outside London opened in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in late 2003, treating clients living in the north-west.
In 2004, the London headquarters moved into a £5.8m new purpose-built treatment centre in Isledon Road, Finsbury Park, by architect Paul Hyett. Freedom from Torture’s Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
centre opened in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
soon afterwards, followed by the Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
centre providing services across the north-east, in 2006.
Freedom from Torture's chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
is Keith Best, who succeeded Simon Carruth.
Treatment provided
All services are provided free of charge, including medical consultation, examination and forensic documentation of injuries through medico-legal reports, psychological and physical treatment and support, and practical help.Over 200 paid and voluntary staff are employed across Freedom from Torture's four centres, including medical doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, caseworkers, counsellors, legal advisors, physiotherapists
Physical therapy
Physical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
, psychotherapists
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
s, interpreters
Interpreting
Language interpretation is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages...
, child and family therapists and group workers.
Available for all services, the Freedom from Torture employs 75 interpreters who work in 50 regular languages and dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s, and additional languages can be catered for.
Centres throughout the UK
Freedom from Torture's main treatment centre is in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, with centres in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
covering England's north-west, Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
covering the north-east, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
covering the whole of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
.
The services offered by the national centres are constantly evolving to meet the needs of a growing population of torture surviving asylum seekers dispersed outside of London.
Facts and figures
Since it was founded in in 1985, over 50,000 people have been referred to the MF.In 2007, Freedom from Torture’s four centres received nearly 2,000 new requests for help. Clients came from almost 100 countries, with significant numbers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
About 50% of clients referred are from African nations, 20% from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, 18% from Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and 8% from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Men account for about 58% of Freedom from Torture’s clients, with women comprising about 35% and children 7%.
The majority of Freedom from Torture’s clients are men aged 25–34 years, although clients aged over 60 and children as young as seven years old have been referred for help.
Ninety-nine per cent of Freedom from Torture clients are asylum seekers or refugees, who have fled torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and persecution
Persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
usually in their home countries and are coping not just with past suffering but also the trauma of living in exile.
Medico-legal reports
The organisation's Medico Legal Report Service is called the 'Medical Foundation Medico Legal Report Service' (taking its name from the registered name of the charity - the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.)Funding
To maintain impartiality and independence (for the purpose of advocacy), Freedom from Torture does not accept Government funding. The only exception is funding from the Department of Health which is put solely towards the production of guidelines for assessing torture survivors and to train health professionals.Donations from individuals provide the core income for the charity's work. In 2008, individual donations contributed 65% to the organisation's income (£4,785,000 of a total income of £7,382,000).