Ensuring Victim Safety in Humanitarian Responses: OHCHR Practices

1. Safety and protection of victims of SEA in the context of humanitarian responsesOHCHR practice Mara Steccazzini, Methodology, Education and Training Section (METS), OHCHR Geneva, 9 September 2019

2. Some framing remarks • OHCHR operates in humanitarian responses but not only • Same principles and methodology • Different stakeholders and processes (coordination, information sharing referral pathways) • SEA as defined in the SG Bulletin and sexual violence as a human rights violation • OHCHR has specific responsibility to investigate and report SEA by non-UN forces

3. How does OHCHR contact victims?Identification • Like a ‘standard’ human rights investigations • Approached directly by concerned sources • Referred by other organisations • Mapping sources from contextual to primary sources and survivors/victims

4. How does OHCHR contact victims?Making contact • Need to interview? Do no harm • Assess risks to contact • Avoid contact • Use intermediaries • Check security of contact means (e.g. telephone) • Arrange interview in a safe location • Challenges in making the interview confidential and dissimulating UN/OHCHR presence

5. How OHCHR avoids retaliation • Prevention • Avoid contact • Confidentiality • Ask authorities to take protection measures • Monitor, document and report on retaliation • Survivors decide

6. Threat and risk assessment • THREAT assessment • Facts surrounding the threat • Objective of the threat • Source of the threat • RISK assessment • Capacityof the source to carry out the threat • History of intimidation • Factors making the person more exposed to harm • Accessto protection

7. Threat assessment

8. Risk assessment

9. Protecting information • Confidentiality and informed consent • Explain • Record • Protect • OHCHR database

10. Challenges • Primary sources vs. do no harm • Human rights officers and specialists • Improving referral