Weemie
MyPTSD Pro
What it is. What it isn't. [*1] The legal definition. Is there ever a point at which torture is justified? [*2] The colloquial definition. I was tortured. The legal definition of torture is as follows:
Some legal definitions push that torture must occur "under the color of the law." What does that mean, precisely? For me, law enforcement officials were involved in my abuse. They made deals with the gangs around here and participated in abusive circumstances directly. They even make jokes about it in the newspaper. The police officers steal evidence and money. It's a big open secret.
I mentioned on @Freida 's diary that there's also an interesting intersection of Non-State Torture (Home) and what happens when you are abused beyond the realm of ordinary human experiential capacity, and you engage a justice system that disregards and thus tacitly approves of your experiences. Is this not state sanctioned torture? Where do we draw those lines?
It took until this year for a therapist to point out that if the police were involved in my abuse, that is legally torture. And I'm not sure if that's relevant. That now it has a different meaning because it is in fact the state, the system, the government that is reinforcing this ideology. It must on some level matter because it affects my entire worldview.
I'm very anti-police. I don't believe law enforcement should be abolished. I do believe there are good police officers out there. I've met them. I've spoken to them. I know them. They're on this forum. But within the context of my trauma those associations are difficult to let go. So many times we flick on the news and see stories of police brutality that reinforce my opinions that this gigantic system of governance that we've established is fundamentally broken at the core.
Do you feel that being tortured has a special place within the context of your traumatic experiences? Have you ever spoken to other torture survivors before? I'd like to reach out and connect. Community reintegration is a big part of my therapy, which is part and parcel for why I'm doing these Let's Talk series-threads. I've had lots of different experiences happen to me.
I have physical disabilities from my experiences as a result. Stress fractures that healed wrong in my tailbone and leg. A CPN injury in my leg. My shoulders and wrists and knees are messed up. I am in chronic pain all of the time and diagnosed with CRPS in my leg. My blood pressure and heart rate are all off for a person of my age. It f*ckin' sucks, yeah?
Anyway, I just wanted to open the dialogue. I've seen it all throughout this forum that those of us in "The Club" have trickled it out. So let's talk about it.
[*1] Some ground rules: this stuff is hard. We will respect everyone's experiences. Every person. No matter what. Whether it rises to the level that we personally feel is torture or not. It counts. That's subjective and we have no qualifications to disregard it. That's the boundary, and I will be enforcing this very squarely. No one has the right to say that someone else's experience isn't torture. We all know that waiting in line at the DMV isn't torture. It's just an inconvenience. Use your best judgment, but do not degrade other people.
[*2] Tread very carefully in this arena. Do not invalidate anyone else. Speak only from your own personal experiences and nothing more. Do not politicize it. Do not aggrandize. I'm hesitant to include this structure but as this is Let's Talk, this is inevitably going to be in the background. I have perpetration induced stress myself and I have taken actions that are torturous myself. So I do know that the cycle continues spiraling downward. Be gentle. Be compassionate. Be kind. This is the strongest boundary I'll enforce.
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts carried out by the state, but others include non-state organizations. (Copied from Wikipedia Torture - Wikipedia)
Some legal definitions push that torture must occur "under the color of the law." What does that mean, precisely? For me, law enforcement officials were involved in my abuse. They made deals with the gangs around here and participated in abusive circumstances directly. They even make jokes about it in the newspaper. The police officers steal evidence and money. It's a big open secret.
I mentioned on @Freida 's diary that there's also an interesting intersection of Non-State Torture (Home) and what happens when you are abused beyond the realm of ordinary human experiential capacity, and you engage a justice system that disregards and thus tacitly approves of your experiences. Is this not state sanctioned torture? Where do we draw those lines?
It took until this year for a therapist to point out that if the police were involved in my abuse, that is legally torture. And I'm not sure if that's relevant. That now it has a different meaning because it is in fact the state, the system, the government that is reinforcing this ideology. It must on some level matter because it affects my entire worldview.
I'm very anti-police. I don't believe law enforcement should be abolished. I do believe there are good police officers out there. I've met them. I've spoken to them. I know them. They're on this forum. But within the context of my trauma those associations are difficult to let go. So many times we flick on the news and see stories of police brutality that reinforce my opinions that this gigantic system of governance that we've established is fundamentally broken at the core.
Do you feel that being tortured has a special place within the context of your traumatic experiences? Have you ever spoken to other torture survivors before? I'd like to reach out and connect. Community reintegration is a big part of my therapy, which is part and parcel for why I'm doing these Let's Talk series-threads. I've had lots of different experiences happen to me.
Waterboarding, stickies under the nails, electrocution, mock executions, burial, stress positions, ice baths. Degrading commentary. Made fun of, perpetrators dressing up in Halloween masks.
I have physical disabilities from my experiences as a result. Stress fractures that healed wrong in my tailbone and leg. A CPN injury in my leg. My shoulders and wrists and knees are messed up. I am in chronic pain all of the time and diagnosed with CRPS in my leg. My blood pressure and heart rate are all off for a person of my age. It f*ckin' sucks, yeah?
Anyway, I just wanted to open the dialogue. I've seen it all throughout this forum that those of us in "The Club" have trickled it out. So let's talk about it.
[*1] Some ground rules: this stuff is hard. We will respect everyone's experiences. Every person. No matter what. Whether it rises to the level that we personally feel is torture or not. It counts. That's subjective and we have no qualifications to disregard it. That's the boundary, and I will be enforcing this very squarely. No one has the right to say that someone else's experience isn't torture. We all know that waiting in line at the DMV isn't torture. It's just an inconvenience. Use your best judgment, but do not degrade other people.
[*2] Tread very carefully in this arena. Do not invalidate anyone else. Speak only from your own personal experiences and nothing more. Do not politicize it. Do not aggrandize. I'm hesitant to include this structure but as this is Let's Talk, this is inevitably going to be in the background. I have perpetration induced stress myself and I have taken actions that are torturous myself. So I do know that the cycle continues spiraling downward. Be gentle. Be compassionate. Be kind. This is the strongest boundary I'll enforce.
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