Utilising Big Data in the Practice of Torture Survivors' Rehabilitation

许多第三部门和慈善组织定期收集使用其服务的人的信息，但往往无法充分利用这些信息来改善其提供的服务。这是由于收集和记录信息的方式，虽然适合某些目的，但无法轻松询问数据，以充分了解他们的服务是如何提供的，以及可以改进的地方。也有可能将慈善机构掌握的数据与其他国家和国际数据来源联系起来，为更深入的分析和理解提供机会。该项目将探讨在保护受害者自身的保密性和权利的同时，开展这些联系的可行性。在该项目中，一个关注酷刑受害者康复的慈善机构"免于酷刑"与埃塞克斯大学合作，探讨如何对他们收集和持有的数据进行重组和清理，使其适合研究和分析。免受酷刑组织是一个全国性慈善机构，成立于1985年，现已发展到在伦敦、曼彻斯特、格拉斯哥、伯明翰和纽卡斯尔设有中心，并在约克郡和亨伯赛德郡提供服务。他们每年为1,000多名居住在联合王国的酷刑幸存者提供服务，其中大多数是寻求庇护者或已获得某种形式的国际保护。他们的客户经历了严重的虐待和创伤，有复杂的需求，FfT优先帮助那些国家卫生服务（NHS），社会服务或其他志愿部门组织无法满足其需求的人。酷刑幸存者基金会还向其他提供保健和社会护理服务的组织提供培训、能力建设和提高对酷刑幸存者独特需求的认识方面的支助。酷刑受害者基金会开展的工作借鉴了获得其服务的酷刑幸存者的经历和声音，酷刑受害者基金会通过服务用户团体让各级客户和前客户参与其中。FfT在全面的需求评估后为每个客户和家庭提供整体护理。这种方法包括危机干预、长期康复、实际援助和/或编写法医报告，以法医方式记录与酷刑有关的伤害。免于酷刑的总体战略目标是：（1）康复：联合王国的酷刑幸存者实现其尽可能充分康复的权利;（2）保护：联合王国的酷刑幸存者得到有效保护，不被送回原籍国面临进一步酷刑的风险;（3）问责：为实现这些目标，本项目还将探讨如何将"免受酷刑"信息与其他外部信息联系起来，数据来源，如地理信息或国际人权信息。我们将探讨哪些数据可以匿名形式提供给第三部门的用户、学术和社会政策研究人员，同时保护受害者的身份和保密性。该项目的一个主要目标是提供一个数据基础设施，支持发展最佳做法，为酷刑受害者提供具有成本效益和成功的社会支助和治疗。因此，该项目将为关于如何提供服务和应适用的最佳做法标准的许多政策辩论提供投入。成为酷刑受害者是人们生活中的创伤和创伤事件，以尽可能好的方式支持他们的恢复和康复是该项目核心活动的基础。

Many third sector and charitable organisations routinely collect information on those using their service but often are not able to fully use this information to improve the service they offer. This is due to the way in which the information is collected and recorded which, while suitable for some purposes, does not enable easy interrogation of the data to fully understand how their service is being delivered and where it could be improved. There is also scope to link the data held by charities to other national and international data sources to provide an opportunity for a much deeper analysis and understanding. This project will explore the feasibility of carrying out these linkages while protecting the confidentiality and rights of the victims themselves.For this project a charity concerned with the rehabilitation of victims of torture, Freedom from Torture, has partnered with the University of Essex to explore how the data they collect and hold can be re-structured and cleaned to make it suitable for research and analysis. Freedom from Torture (FfT) is a national charity established in 1985 and has grown to have centres in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Newcastle and a service in Yorkshire and Humberside. They provide services to over 1,000 survivors of torture a year, who reside in the UK, most of whom are asylum seekers or have been granted some form of international protection. Their clients have experienced serious abuse and trauma and have complex needs and FfT prioritises helping those whose needs cannot be met by the National Health Service (NHS), social services or other voluntary sector organisations. FfT also provides other organisations that offer health and social care services with support for training, capacity building and promoting awareness of the unique needs of torture survivors. The work FfT carry out is informed by the experiences and voices of survivors of torture who access their services and FfT involve clients and former clients at every level through Service Users groups. FfT provides holistic care for each individual client and family following a comprehensive needs assessment. This approach embraces crisis intervention, long term rehabilitation, practical assistance, and / or the preparation of medico-legal reports which forensically document torture related injuries. Freedom from Torture's overall strategic aims are:(1) Rehabilitation: That survivors of torture in the UK realise their right to as full rehabilitation as possible; (2) Protection: Survivors of torture in the UK receive effective protection and are not returned to their countries of origin to face the risk of further torture; (3) Accountability: States responsible for torture are held to account publicly and the human rights of survivors are guaranteed nationally and internationally.With these aims in mind this project will also explore how the Freedom from Torture information can be linked with other external data sources such as geograhical information or international information on human rights. We will explore what data can be made available in anonymised form to users in the third sector, academic and social policy researchers while protecting the identity and confidentiality of the victims themselves. A major aim of the project is to provide a data infrastructure that will support the development of best practice in the delivery of cost-effective and successful social support and therapeutic treatments for victims of torture. The project will therefore feed into many policy debates about how services are delivered and the best practice standards that should be applied. Being a victim of torture is a traumatic and scarring event in people's lives and supporting their recovery and rehabilitation in the best way possible underlies the core activities of this project.