History
The CCVT is a non-profit, registered charitable organization, founded by several Toronto doctors, lawyers and social service professionals, many of whom were associated with Amnesty International. They had begun to see victims of torture in their practices as early as 1977. Many of the victims were in the process of claiming refugee status in Canada. The doctors saw the need for specialized counseling for the social and legal problems faced by this particular client group. Lawyers, social workers and community groups saw clients who were survivors of torture, often badly in need of treatment by doctors and other health professionals. The CCVT was incorporated in 1983 as the Canadian Centre for the Investigation and Prevention of Torture. The name was changed in 1988 to better reflect the Centre's mandate. The Centre was the second such facility in the world to be established. The first was in Copenhagen in 1982. In 2003, CCVT was accredited to the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT).
Structure and Funding
The CCVT has a 15 member volunteer board which sets policy and guidelines for the operation of the Centre. The board is elected from the membership of the Centre at the Annual General Meeting. Currently, board members include volunteers with the Centre, members of the Centre's health and legal networks, educators, former service users and community activists. There are currently 5 Standing Committees comprised of board members, health and legal network members, staff and volunteers. They are the health Committee, Legal Committee, Volunteer Advisory Committee and the Public Education Committee. In addition, ad hoc committees are created as needed.
Decisions of the board are implemented by the executive committee of the board, the executive director and the staff of the CCVT. There are 18 full and part time staff members whose job descriptions correspond to the areas of service provided by the Centre.
The CCVT is a non-profit, registered charitable organization (#13332 7908 RR0001) which receives funding from Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Torture Victims, foundations, religious organizations, and individuals. In 1998, the CCVT became a member agency of the United Way.
People Who Have Survived Torture
The Centre has assisted approximately 14,000 survivors from 136 different countries since its inception. Survivors include people who have been subjected to severe torture or prolonged severe multiple experiences of victimization; children and adolescents subjected to torture or witnessing violence; sexually traumatized people, particularly women and children; seniors who have been subjected to various types of torture; people who have gone through traumatic exit, transit, and exile experiences. These traumatic experiences, compounded by their disorienting effects, produce severe physical and psychological damage. For those forced to leave their countries, the process of flight is usually frightening, dangerous, and extremely stressful. Conditions of flight are terrifying and for the refugee there is no guarantee that they will arrive to their destination safely. A typical process of flight for a refugee may involve sneaking through a secret passage through the countryside, often at night, while attempting to avoid discovery by the police or military, living in constant fear with little or inappropriate food, clothing or shelter. For refugees this is a continuous period of great stress, insecurity and fear. It is also common for many refugees to live in refugee camps in their efforts to find refuge. For refugees who have survived torture, the disruption of life and any pattern of normalcy can last for years and perpetuate periods of prolonged stress.
For those who remain in their countries, they may face on-going threats to their lives and to the lives of their families, the threat of losing their livelihood, repeated detentions, ostracism, physical abuse, and denial of access to public services such as health care and education, to name a few. Cases are often difficult and difficult to prove. Settlement staff cite the case of a woman from Central America who arrived in Canada after having been raped by smugglers in the country of exile. She requested medical assistance to attend to her injuries. One year later, after being accepted as a refugee, she disclosed that she had also been raped in her country of origin. She explained that she had been mistaken for her sister, whose husband was friendly with a death squad, yet who had refused to join them. As a way to humiliate him, the squad planned to rape her sister, but they raped her instead, in the belief that they had the wife of the "coward who did not want to join."
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