Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights

The Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights (WCCHR) is a faculty-supported, student-run clinic dedicated to providing forensic medical, gynecologic, and mental health evaluations and affidavits to victims of torture, persecution, and abuse. As part of our mission, we offer training to healthcare workers and education to community members on issues relating to torture and abuse. The WCCHR offers its services at no cost and also works to connect our clients to organizations across the city, including the Weill Cornell Community Clinic  (WCCC), that ofeet low-cost or pto bono medical and social services. It has been estimated that there are more than 1.3 million foreign-born torture survivors in the United States with nearly 100,000 residing in the New York metropolitan area. In an asylum proceeding, healthcare professionals are crucial in providing documentation of torture and abuse, yet few medical schools or residency programs have developed a curriculum to educate medical students and residents in evaluating survivors. The WCCHR was founded with the goal of meeting our professional obligations to this vulnerable group by providing much needed medico-legal support and by training medical students, residents, and practicing physicians to recognize and evaluate victims of torture and abuse.