Information about systematic and conflict-related sexual violence (SCRSV) is gathered, shared and published at vast scale, by researchers, documenters, journalists, investigators, humanitarian workers, advocates and many others. Yet the people at the centre of that information – survivors – are too often inadequately protected in the process. They may not fully understand what they are consenting to, interact with people who lack the training to work safely, or find their information used in ways that expose them to reprisals, stigma or re-traumatisation. These are not isolated failures. They persist across sectors and contexts, not because those doing the work lack good intentions, but because risks are poorly understood and minimum standards are too rarely built into the systems that shape how this work is designed and funded.

Funders occupy a uniquely influential, responsible and sensitive position in changing this. The decisions made at funding level – what to support, what to require of partners and grantees, what counts as a measurable deliverable, how to measure results – shape the incentives, capacities and working cultures of the organisations they fund. They also help shape whether work to gather or use information about SCRSV (through engagement with survivors or in other ways) is effective, is harmful to survivors, and is otherwise ethical and safe.

This Guide offers a practical resource for governmental, multilateral and philanthropic funders who want to encourage, support and require the safe, ethical and effective gathering and use of information about SCRSV by their partners or grantees. It covers every stage of the funding cycle, from strategy-setting and partner selection to monitoring, evaluation and closure. It also addresses what funders can do, individually and collectively, to shift the culture and practice of how this work gets done.