Children of torture victims

Sometimes children are arrested together with their parent or both parents, or they are born in the prison or they are left on their own, at home or in the streets after the arrestation of their parents. The children of torture victims live under traumatic circumstances: the arrest of the parents, the absence of one parent, separation from both parents, witnessing the arrest, torture or even execution of a parent. Some children are tortured in front of their parents.

In a recent study of chilean refugee children whose parent or parents had been tortured showed 78% of them suffered emotional or physical effects of the torture. From the study it is evident that such children suffer serious and perhaps life long psychological and social problems.