Contribution short abstract:

This paper reflects on a hybrid ethics research panel process which was embedded in a gender based violence research project in Haiti. This process was put in place as the project was committed to a decolonial praxis. The paper discusses the learning and the challenges from this process.

Contribution long abstract:

This paper reflects on a hybrid research ethics panel process which was embedded in a research project on the dynamics of GBV impunity in Haiti. The purpose of this panel was to respond to the decolonial question of ‘whose ethics counts in research’ and to ensure it is the ethic of displaced communities and the GBV survivors that is centered in the research. The panel comprised of 2 representatives from women’s associations,1 G BV survivor, 1 judicial advisor,1GBV researcher and 1 academic. The research team viewed that this process would bring a more blended and multidisciplinary perspective to the validation of the ethics protocol. The hybrid ethics panel reviewed the ethics protocol documents (ethics risk assessment document, data management plan, participant information sheet and informed consent) to provide the research with ethical leadership and cultural and impact alignment. The insights of the panel were used to revise and finalize the ethics protocol of the project. This paper analyzes how this process worked towards shifting power for epistemic justice in a conflict prone context.