It is moreover crucial to prepare a safe, secure, and sufficiently private
location for the interview, to allow a victim/witness to speak openly, without
fear of being overheard by third parties. 133 The interview location should
not be associated with authorities or be under surveillance of authorities,
particularly where the authorities may be implicated in the abuses.134
Instead, the interviewee may feel most comfortable in a familiar location.
The presence of the interviewee in a commonly visited location may also
draw less attention than if s/he were to be seen in a less common location.
For female victims of sexual violence, it is recommended to consider using a
location in a women’s center or reproductive health center. 135 Be aware that
for security reasons, the victim/witness’ own house will often not be a
suitable location for the interview. 136 Places such as police stations, local
administrative or government offices and the interviewee’s place of
employment should be avoided unless arrangements can be made to secure
sufficient privacy. 137 Providing a safe location minimizes the risk that the
identity is revealed of those that share information and contributes to the
building of a trusting relationship between interviewer and interviewee.
Engaging With the Victim/Witness
The purpose of the second stage of the interview process is to consider
how best to engage with the victim/witness in order to establish a
133
PHR, Curriculum Companion: Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zone, Cross-Sectoral Training,
UNPUBLISHED.
134
Marie Nystedt (Ed.), Christian Axboe Nielsen, Jann F. Kleffner, A Handbook On Assisting
International Criminal Investigations, THE FOLKE BERNADOTTE ACADEMY, 84 (2011), available at
http://folkebernadotteacademy.se/Documents/Kunskapsomr%C3%A5den/Rule%20of%20Law/A%20Hand
book%20on%20Assisting%20International%20Criminal%20Investigations.pdf;
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Anti-human Trafficking manual for criminal justice
practioners, module 8: Interviewing victims of trafficking in persons who are potential witnesses,16-17
(2009), available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/TIP_module8_Ebook.pdf;
OHCHR, Training Manual on Human Rights Monitoring, Chapter VIII: Interviewing, 114 (1996),
available at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/training7part59en.pdf.
135
World Health Organization, WHO Ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting
and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies, 16 (2007), available at
http://www.who.int/gender/documents/OMS_Ethics&Safety10Aug07.pdf.
136
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Anti-human Trafficking manual for criminal justice
practioners, module 8: Interviewing victims of trafficking in persons who are potential witnesses, 16-7
(2009), available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/TIP_module8_Ebook.pdf.
137
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of
Sexual Violence in Conflict: Basic Standards of Best Practice on The Documentation of Sexual Violence as
a Crime under International Law, 42 (2014), available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/319054/PSVI_protocol_web
.pdf.
97
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents