Chapter 7: Legal Services

Healing the Hurt: A Guide for Developing Services for Torture Survivors was developed by The National Capacity Building Project at The Center for Victims of Torture for practitioners who may or may not have worked previously with torture survivors. It is a multidisciplinary guide that addresses some basic considerations when working with this population. This handbook is a primer, and it should not take the place of more in-depth training in torture treatment. We hope you find this resource helpful in your work with torture survivors. Various chapters are referred to under Providers Resources at HealTorture.org. Access to all handbook chapters is available by downloading the PDF files.

You can view and download the full book here or scroll down to view and download Chapter Seven.

Chapter Seven

This chapter provides an overview of challenges that arise when representing torture survivors and strategies to ensure these challenges do not act as a barrier to effective legal representation. Attorneys encounter torture survivors with a variety of legal needs. Frequently, however, the survivor’s initial and most pressing legal problem involves immigration matters, such as asylum, family reunification, or defense from removal (deportation). Because safety is crucial to the survivor’s ability to engage fully in torture treatment services, the asylum process is integral to rehabilitation.

Other related immigration legal services, including family reunification and obtaining lawful permanent resident status, may also be vital to the survivor’s steps toward rehabilitation. Survivors with a variety of immigration statuses may find themselves in need of representation in these matters. Without a lawyer’s careful attention, these issues may interfere substantially with clients’ ability to participate in their representation. In these situations, attorneys must diligently practice the basics of good lawyering: building a solid attorney-client relationship, communicating effectively with the client throughout representation, and, at all times, treating the client with dignity and respect.