ABSTRACT
Enforced disappearance creates ambiguity between “existence” and “non-existence” to all the victims involved. It affects the disappeared person through captivity, often torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and very often death and disappearance of the body. It also degrades or annihilates their “sense of self”, their human dignity and identity, and their reputation and the memory of them in those who survive and in the community, both directly and indirectly. Moreover, ambiguity is used as a tool to conceal the truth and make victims lose their identity and self-confidence. In many cases, the victim’s memory is destroyed by the creation of new memories by the perpetrators. Enforced disappearance also has a gendered impact on the family who is left behind; surviving wives often suffer the burden of not being able to support their families economically due to the lack of employment opportunities for women. Women are also confused about their status of “widows” or other. Such consequences make it difficult for victim families to reconnect themselves with the society they live in.
