Conducting Safe, Effective and Ethical Interviews with Survivors of Sexual and Gender-based Violence

This guide is part of WITNESS’ Video for Change how-to series on filming safely, effectively, and ethically. It’s based on the best practices established over 20 years of training and supporting human rights activists in 90 countries to use video. This guide is for human rights activists, advocates, citizen journalists, citizen filmmakers, professional journalists, and others who are filming and conducting interviews with survivors of gender-based violence for human rights documentation and advocacy.

It includes considerations and guidance for anyone setting out to interview survivors. The tips are organised into stages of preparation for the interview, during the interview, and after the interview, and special attention is given to ensuring the safety and security of interviewees. It is currently available in English with translations planned in Afrikaans, Arabic, Shona, Spanish, and Zulu. An earlier version is available in Swahili.

The guide is also available as a series of videos (see link below) including this one: