Department of Social Medicine, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil; Laboratoire Anthropologie Archéologie Biologie (LAAB), Université Paris-Saclay, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France.
Public Health England, London, United Kingdom.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2021 Jan;77:102104. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2020.102104. Epub 2020 Dec 13.
The increasing numbers of migrants and refugees to Europe include persons seeking asylum, many of whom will have experienced physical violence and torture. Here we describe the personal histories and clinical evidence of violence and torture among attendees at a public health specialist service in France.
Physicians in a multidisciplinary team conducted examinations to corroborate refugees' skin lesions and other signs of injury with self-reported histories of physical violence and torture to provide evidence for asylum applications.
The 240 asylum seekers assessed between October 2016 and September 2018 were mostly male (89% (213/240)) with median age 29 years (IQR 26-34 years) and originating from north and west Africa. Consultations took place on average 15 months after arrival in France. In most cases (58%) the reason for seeking asylum was political persecution. Almost all attendees (94%) presented with scars. The most common mechanisms of injury were beatings (84%), burns (32%) and cuts/stab wounds (15%). Sexual violence was reported for 37% of women (10/27) and 4% of men (9/213). Police tended to use multiple methods for inflicting injuries, whereas the army and non-state actors mostly inflicted beatings. Sexual violation was most commonly reported for violence inflicted by family members or partners. Corroboration of lesions with patients' histories of physical violence and torture was affirmative in 93% (224/240) of cases.
For this ethnically diverse group, a specialist service which can provide clinical corroboration of self-reported histories of physical violence and torture to support asylum applications is an essential minimum.
前往欧洲的移民和难民人数不断增加，其中包括寻求庇护者，他们中的许多人都曾遭受过身体暴力和酷刑。在这里，我们描述了法国一家公共卫生专家服务中心的与会者的个人经历和临床暴力及酷刑证据。
多学科团队的医生进行了检查，以证实难民的皮肤损伤和其他损伤迹象与自我报告的身体暴力和酷刑经历相符，为庇护申请提供证据。
2016 年 10 月至 2018 年 9 月期间评估的 240 名寻求庇护者中，大多数为男性（89%（213/240）），中位数年龄为 29 岁（IQR 26-34 岁），来自北非和西非。咨询平均发生在抵达法国后 15 个月。在大多数情况下（58%），寻求庇护的原因是政治迫害。几乎所有与会者（94%）都有疤痕。最常见的受伤机制是殴打（84%）、烧伤（32%）和切割/刺伤（15%）。报告称 37%的女性（10/27）和 4%的男性（213 人中有 9 人）遭受过性暴力。警察往往使用多种方法造成伤害，而军队和非国家行为者主要造成殴打。性侵犯最常发生在家庭成员或伴侣施加的暴力行为中。在 93%（224/240）的病例中，病变与患者的身体暴力和酷刑经历相符。
对于这个种族多样化的群体，一个能够提供临床证实自我报告的身体暴力和酷刑经历以支持庇护申请的专家服务是必不可少的最低要求。
