There is growing acknowledgement that torture is too narrowly defined in law, and that psychological and/or sexualised violence against women is not adequately recognized as torture. Clearly conceptualising torturous violence, this book offers scholars and practitioners critical reflections on how torture is defined and the implications that narrow definitions may have on survivors. Drawing on over a decade of research and interviews with psychologists, practitioners and women seeking asylum, it sets out the implications of the social silencing of torture, and torturous violence specifically. It invites us to consider alternative ways to understand and address the impacts of physical, sexualized and psychological abuses.With growing acknowledgement that torture is too narrowly defined in law, this book offers scholars and practitioners a nuanced reflection on the definition of torturous violence and its implications for survivors. Drawing on a decade of research with psychologists and women seeking asylum, Canning sets out the implications of social silencing of torture in its narrowest sense and torturous violence more broadly.