In Our Own Words - Survivor Perspectives Resource
If you investigate, document, monitor, report on or otherwise gather and use information about systematic and conflict-related sexual violence (SCRSV), the way you approach your work can have profound consequences for survivors. Yet survivors are rarely asked about their own experiences of these processes. In Our Own Words: Survivor Perspectives for Those Gathering and Using Information about SCRSV changes that.
Developed by the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) with survivors and partner organisations around the world, this foundational resource is designed to complement the Global Code of Conduct for Gathering and Using Information about SCRSV (the Murad Code). The Murad Code distils the minimum standards practitioners must uphold to ensure their work is safe, ethical and effective; In Our Own Words emphasises why these standards matter.
By addressing critical questions such as "Why do we speak to you?", "What helps us to open up, and what silences us?", "How does your preparation—or lack of it—impact us?" the insights shared by survivors in this resource demonstrate how assumptions, stigma and bias can cause harm, what respect looks like in practice, and how seemingly small choices affect survivors' lives. Their words have urgent implications for practitioners seeking to gather and use information in a survivor-centred manner.
Select ‘Read the resource’ to read In Our Own Words in English, Arabic, Bosnian, French, Nepali, Spanish, Swahili or Ukrainian.
Select ‘Visit the microsite’ to explore an interactive version of the resource, through a selection of audio clips and a quotes, in English.
More about this resource
This resource captures how survivors have experienced interactions with those gathering and using information about SCRSV—including investigators, documenters, researchers and the media. Survivors' perspectives appear as direct quotes, unedited for grammar, in order to preserve the authenticity of their voices. (Note: throughout this resource, "documenters" is often used as shorthand for all information-gatherers and users to whom the Murad Code applies.)
Naturally, this resource does not speak for all survivors. The Murad Code project team and partner organisations approached the resource’s development not as a comprehensive social or academic research project, but as a basic yet useful effort to safely and ethically capture a range of survivors’ perspectives on how they have experienced such information-gathering and use processes. The survivors who contributed come from nine countries and varied backgrounds, as detailed in the Background and Methodology section of the resource.
Preview of the ‘In Our Own Words’ microsite