ABSTRACT
Research that includes survivors of sexual violence and rape in war demands a corpus of methodological and data-collecting instruments, which respects ethical principles toward people’s privacy, vulnerability, confidentiality and the safety of both the researcher and the researched environment. The author introduces engaged research principles, which in comparison to traditional practices encourage more collaborative approach while designing the research and forming the research questions, to minimize the assumptions of the researcher as an external observer. What is more important is the relevance to the social context, the contribution to the positive social change and validity tested in action. While conventional research ethics mostly promote the no-harm approach, engaged research puts much of its focus on risks and potentials of exploitation.
