Dr. Dodo Mahari, from Sindh, Pakistan, is the General Secretary of the Sindh Tarique Passand political party. Sister Dianna Ortiz, an American tortured in Guatemala, has devoted her life to supporting survivors of torture and helping others understand their world, consulting to medical, legal, and mental health professionals and advocating for survivors in many arenas. She lives with the pain of being disbelieved. These are extraordinary accomplishments. Yet the fact that a survivor of torture can be productive does not mean that his or her life is not a perpetual struggle.
Success can obscure distress within.
The bag looks intact from the outside, but inside I feel like thousands of shards of glass, all fragmented, with only the thin paper skin holding my pieces in one place. Most of these survivors are unrecognized, invisible. Many desperately need our help to move from surviving to thriving. Because of the extreme trauma they have experienced, survivors of torture have multifaceted needs that need to be addressed by treatment centers providing comprehensive services. Survivors must be provided medical insurance.