How can children survive torture? 2016

Every country in the world is bound by the principle of the absolute prohibition of torture, without exception. Yet, as has been documented by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (the Torture Fund) and other UN mechanisms, the torture of children and adolescents is still a shocking reality. Even very young children are not spared this suffering and are subjected to various forms of torture, including through the use of specific machinery to administer pain; mock executions; sexual abuse and assault; and being forced to witness pain, abuse, violence or humiliation being inflicted on other children or family members. Children are frequently targeted because they are children as a way to intimidate entire communities or to force their parents or other relatives to endure additional torture.