Voices Against Torture (VAT) is a semi-annual journal launched in 2020 as an organic extension of the education, advocacy, and community-building mandate of the Vancouver Association for the Survivors of Torture (VAST). VAT operates in alignment with the values and vision of the VAST community and hopes to further lift the voices of survivors of torture to support resilience and dignity.
VAT aims to provide a platform for discussion of torture prevention, improve awareness of and support for refugee and immigrant mental health, and highlight global human rights concerns.
VAT aims to critically inform readers and facilitate an open dialogue about key theoretical and practical issues in the fields of torture rehabilitation, refugee mental health, and trauma-informed healing. VAT will also be home to information about upcoming conferences, training opportunities, and other related activities in the sector.
As an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary journal, VAT invites submissions from a wide range of academic disciplines and actively seeks collaboration and conversation across disciplines. This approach intends to link theory and lived experience to social change, helping to bring together academics, activists, educators, therapists and healers, and those directly and indirectly affected by torture.
VAT aims to publish new research, in-depth analyses, critical reviews of scholarly pieces, interviews with survivors of torture and specialists in the field of immigrant and refugee mental health, as well as book reviews, creative non-fiction and other non-academic submissions in order to encourage a plurality of voices.
The Editorial Board accepts general submissions on an ongoing basis. Going forward, VAT may seek to publish special issues on specific themes, details of which will be provided on the VAT website.
Please refer to our Call for Contributions for further details on requirements and how to contribute. We regret at this time that VAT is only able to review and publish submissions in English.While the Editorial Board seeks to ensure that the Journal aligns with the broader vision and mission statement of VAST, the written contributions to VAT express the views of their authors and not those of VAST. Written contributions to the Journal do not constitute medical or legal advice.