International programmes
How we work internationally
Our international programmes focus on creating access to sustainable rehabilitation of trauma victims. We help the organisations we work with internationally to improve their ability to prevent torture and violence and to help victims.
Prevention
Together with our partners we promote:
- International legislation prohibiting and preventing torture.
- Documentation of torture for the purposes of advocacy, prosecution, and redress.
- Reforms of judicial and prison authorities that provide the necessary protection and humane conditions for persons deprived of their liberty in prisons, jails and psychiatric wards.
- Reforms of police and security authorities to ensure that they exercise their mandate in accordance with human rights standards.
- Prevention of various forms of violence that often lead to and are used to legitimise torture, including gender-based violence and violent extremism.
Rehabilitation
Together with our partners we promote:
- International law recognising the right to rehabilitation.
- The aim that relevant hospitals and doctors must have the will and capacity to provide professionally qualified treatment for all traumatised victims.
- Knowledge that reduces the stigma of trauma.
- Targeted inclusion efforts for traumatised victims and their families in communities.
- Development of a strong and vibrant civil society capable of persuading and supporting relevant authorities in promoting universal rehabilitation of torture survivors.
This is where we work
We are currently working in following countries:
If you have any questions about our program, contact our Director of International Programmes Morten Olesen: mool@dignity.dk.
We work with partners in Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Israel, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and have our own country offices in Tunisia and Jordan. In countries such as Tunisia, Jordan and Morocco, we work to ensure that torture is prevented via promoting pre-empting practices in cooperation with both national Sata authorities and civil society. We focus for instance in promoting alternatives to detention and on reducing reliance on confession by the judiciary. With civil society we focus on the implementation of legal safeguards. Where torture takes place systematically, in cooperation with partners, we focus on national and international advocacy, as well as we seek avenues to keep perpetrators accountable. Across the region, we promote efficient access to mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS) for survivors of violence and trauma; in this respect, among other interventions, we engage into mid-career training of physiotherapists and psychologists. DIGNITY is promoting where possible inter-sectoral violence prevention programmes and youth engagement, to pave the way to societies where dialogue – instead of violent confrontations – represents the main means to solving problems.
We work in the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar. In the Philippines, we are working to build a competent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to monitor conditions in prisons according to the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). Together with our partner Balay, we work to ensure access to mental support for trauma victims in Philippine prisons. In Indonesia we work with partners to promote inclusion and well-being of marginalised children. In Myanmar we collaborate with partners in pursuit of justice and accountability for at-risk populations.
We work in Guatemala and Honduras through our partner CIPREVICA to build trust between citizens and authorities and promote local leadership.
We have activities in Kosovo, Belarus and Ukraine. In Kosovo, we are part of a research project on transgenerational trauma in wartime rape victims and their children. Since 2021, DIGNITY has led the IAPB, which collects evidence of torture in Belarus for the purpose of prosecution of torturers. In Ukraine, through our partners SICH and Forpost, we work with the authorities to identify torture survivors, document torture, and offer specialised treatment.