Paying Tribute to Survivors: Betty’s Story

On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the United Against Torture Consortium pays tribute to all victims and survivors. Their strength and courage have been instrumental in giving teeth to the Convention, and in allowing justice, reparation, and measures to prevent recurrence from flourishing.

Below we share the story of Amony Betty, one of hundreds of women supported by the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), a member of IRCT, one of our partners at the United Against Torture Consortium.

Betty is from one of the rural communities scarred by violence during Uganda’s two-decade civil war. She was abducted as a teenager by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, who beat and starved her, before she escaped.

“Life was not easy. I did not have food for my children,” says Betty. “I had constant pain and I felt useless. I felt I should just kill myself.”

After visiting ACTV’s clinic in Gulu, Northern Uganda, Betty was given medical assistance, joined with a group of fellow survivors, and offered start-up capital in the form of children’s clothes to sell.

“I was abducted by the rebels in 2004. I was a captive and suffered all forms of torture. There was nothing good and life became very difficult. I felt useless and like I should just kill myself. They counselled me. They gave me good advice. They advised me and I felt a change in my life. I once again felt I have worth. I felt loved. I realised I am still useful in society.”

Betty, proudly showing us the extra maize and cassava crops she has planted on the land she built a home on, explains:

“I buy food to feed my children out of the profit my business makes.”

To learn more about ACTV’s life-saving human rights work, please visit: https://actvuganda.org/