Paper short abstract:

Religion is a highly sensitive area of study. Though sensitive research is ethically challenging and may be distressing for both participant and researcher, the topic is little discussed within the study of religion. What protocols could protect participants' and researchers' safety and well-being?

Paper long abstract:

Early career researchers in the study of religion are increasingly engaging with sensitive research topics - such as studying vulnerable and underprivileged religious groups, or religious discrimination, persecution, or violence. At the same time, an increased awareness of researcher subjectivity and positionality, as well as research ethics and data protection, places pressure on young scholars of religion to handle these issues safely and responsibly.

Several ethical issues arise when conducting research on sensitive topics. Such research carries the risk of emotional distress for both participants and researchers, as recalling or collecting traumatic experiences may trigger symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress or vicarious trauma.

This paper builds upon the experience of two doctoral researchers. Eckerström focuses on the narratives of musicians persecuted for religious transgression in Iran and Saudi Arabia and conducts in-depth interviews with her participants. Halonen studies the assessment of religious persecution in asylum interviews and decision-making, working with highly confidential secondary data that contains detailed descriptions of traumatic events.

Together they reflect on their experiences of dealing with emotional accounts. What happens when the voices of the participants live inside your head? What ethical issues were raised during the development of their research? The presentation also discusses protocols currently in place for safeguarding researchers in universities across Europe. What are the current institutional shortcomings in supporting researchers who work with distressing data? And are there protocols that could safeguard both participants' and researchers' security and emotional well-being?

Nor are these questions relevant only for studying religious persecution. As 'religion' counts as a 'special category of personal data' under GDPR, and as scholars of religion often handle deeply personal accounts, questions of how to safeguard both researchers and participants are pertinent to most researchers in the field.