Since the beginning of the genocide in Sinjar in August 2014, members of the Yazidi community, especially survivors of ISIL captivity have been interviewed countless times by multiple actors and for a variety of reasons, including to document their testimonies, implement projects, conduct research, write media and academic articles, or produce documentaries.

Even when done with good intentions, such engagements can have a negative impact on survivors and their quest for justice, recovery, and healing. Over the years, members of the Yazidi community have shared with Yazda stories of unsatisfactory or even traumatizing interactions. These experiences have contributed to lower levels of trust in interviewers and have led to ‘interview-fatigue’ among some members of the Yazidi community from Sinjar, Iraq.

While there are many general guidelines on best practice standards for interviewing survivors of grave human rights and humanitarian law violations, none is specifically tailored to prepare interviewers for their interactions with survivors of the Yazidi community from Sinjar. Yazidi survivors themselves have indicated to Yazda that they have seen little effort in addressing the knowledge gap of stakeholders in dealing with them.

To fill this gap, Yazda releases the “Get To Know Me First” Guide. It is a survivor-informed document which provides practical guidance on how to engage with Yazidi survivors from Sinjar in a culturally safe and trauma-informed way. Its content draws from experiences of Yazidis from Sinjar themselves, including survivors, those who are daily interacting with them or are planning to do so, and Yazidis with deep knowledge of their history, culture and religion.

The Guide can be useful to anyone engaging with Yazidi survivors but has been specifically designed to support stakeholders who conduct interviews with Yazidis as part of their mandate to promote accountability and transitional justice related processes, including UN mechanisms and law enforcement agencies, international and national organizations delivering projects targeting the Yazidi community, and journalists, filmmakers and academic researchers.

The Guide is divided into three parts, reflecting each stage of interaction with survivors: before, during and after the interview. For each of these stages it provides advice, practical examples, photos and a map, and directs the reader to further resources.

As we approach the 10th year commemoration of the Yazidi genocide, engagement with Yazidi survivors must be done with at least a basic understanding of their conception of the world as well as their past and current struggles. This understanding is even more essential due to ISIL’s targeting of Yazidis stemming from profound misconceptions about their religion and culture, and systematic discrimination.