Part III, 12 Digital Human Rights Investigations: Vicarious Trauma, PTSD, and Tactics for Resilience

Subject(s):

Right to health — Human rights remedies — Media

The aim of this chapter is twofold: to show that secondary trauma is a real risk for human rights researchers in the digital age; and to introduce human rights researchers and organisations to techniques and methods for mitigating harm and building resilience. Section 1 outlines the general criteria, symptoms, and risk factors for PTSD, and discusses the potential link between viewing photos or video of abuse and PTSD. Section 2 discusses why digital and open source investigations pose a unique challenge to the mental health of human rights researchers. Section 3 shares various tactics investigators can use to help prevent, mitigate, and respond to stress related to exposure to traumatic material. Section 4 turns to organisational strategies for working with potentially traumatic material. Section 5 addresses the impact of technological choices on exposure to distressing material, suggesting that developers need to confront and design with the risk of PTSD and other adverse effects in mind.