From Silence to Dignity: How Testimonial Therapy Became a Pathway to Justice in Banaras

A powerful academic reflection on the work of People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) and testimonial therapy can be read here:

https://www.peaceresearch.ca/pdf/48/PRJ_48_1-2_Jeremy_Rinker_Full.pdf

The paper, “Narrative Reconciliation as Rights Based Peace Praxis: Custodial Torture, Testimonial Therapy, and Overcoming Marginalization” by Jeremy Rinker, examines how storytelling, public testimony, and community-based healing became tools of resistance and reconciliation among marginalized communities in Banaras.

It highlights PVCHR’s innovative “testimonial therapy” process developed in collaboration with Danish anti-torture experts, where survivors of custodial torture and organized violence narrate their experiences publicly in community honour ceremonies.

The paper argues that stories are not passive memories — they shape identity, challenge oppression, and create possibilities for social transformation and peacebuilding.

Situated within the social complexity of Banaras, the research documents how caste discrimination, police violence, poverty, and marginalization intersect with historical trauma. Yet through collective storytelling and community solidarity, survivors begin reclaiming dignity, confidence, and democratic participation.

One of the most important insights from the paper is that justice is not only legal — healing also requires public acknowledgment, empathy, and restoration of voice. Testimonial therapy becomes not only a method of psychosocial support but also a pathway toward “memory justice” and rights-based peacebuilding.

The experiences documented in the paper remind us that real democracy must include the voices of those historically silenced. Listening itself can become an act of transformation.