The Murad Code is a global consultative initiative aimed at building and supporting a community of better practice for, with and concerning survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Its key objective is to respect and support survivors’ rights and to ensure work with survivors to investigate, document and record their experiences is safer, more ethical and more effective in upholding their human rights.

The current main components of the Murad Code project are:

• The Murad Code: a global code of conduct for those collecting information from survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. The Code is named after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nadia Murad, which reflects its objective to place survivors’ rights and well-being at its heart. The “Draft Global Code of Conduct for Investigating and Documenting Conflict-Related Sexual Violence” (draft Murad Code) is now being presented for global consultations and further development.

• A Commentary to the Code: it will link the Code’s core commitments to helpful resources, guidelines and international law sources, and will include shared learning and practical, creative ways to apply the Code across sectors and with different types of resource constraints and realities.

• A “survivors’ charter” addressed to documenters but prepared by survivors to express their wishes on how documenters should engage with them and which reflects the core commitments of the Code.

• A “survivor’s guide”: a toolkit for survivors which will assist them to better understand and demand respect and protection for their rights during documentation processes.

The main interlinked goals of the Murad Code project are:

• To distill existing minimum or core standards which are critical for safe, effective and survivor-centric investigation and documentation of conflict-related sexual violence through the development and implementation of a globally supported code of conduct. The goal is not to create new core standards.

• To strengthen respect for, and fullfilment of, survivors’ and witnesses’ human rights, including with regards to dignity, privacy, health, safety, justice, remedies and development.

• To reduce and ultimately prevent further harm, including re-traumatisation, being caused to survivors.

• Generally, to enhance the effectiveness of such documentation efforts, thus improving the chances of better outcomes for survivors, and, consequently, for those who document and the wider local, national and international communities.

• To set in place support systems and provide practical guidance to ensure all actors can commit and adhere to the Code, in their respective roles, without creating any insurmountable barriers to those willing and able to act in the best interests of survivors.

The idea of a global code of conduct for the investigation and documentation of conflict-related sexual violence originated with the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) (www.iici.global). The project to develop the Murad Code is a collaboration between IICI and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative of the UK government (PSVI) in consultation with Nadia’s Initiative (www.nadiasinitiative.org).