Cause No Harm

Cause No Harm

A Human Rights-Based Accountability Initiative for Non-Fiction Visual Media Creators

The Urgency: Why This Matters

Documentary filmmakers and visual media creators wield incredible storytelling power. However, when human rights violations occur, participants—especially trauma survivors—can experience significant harm. From the exploitation of Yazidi women in Sabaya to the death of an Afghan man in Retrograde and countless unspoken violations, industry-wide standards for protecting participant rights remain inadequate.

Cause No Harm directly responds to these injustices, advocating for documentary filmmaking that prioritizes the protection of the human rights of media participants. We work to integrate informed consent practices,, trauma-informed care, community-based storytelling, and accountability structures into the media making to protect those featured in film, photojournalism, and nonfiction visual media.

🔹 Want to support accountable storytelling? Sign up for updates and be part of the change.

The Initiative: From Awareness to Action

In collaboration with Art Works Projects, Re-Present Media, and The Video Consortium, we launched “Centering Survivor Stories,” a four-part workshop series that addresses best practices for working with survivors of sexual violence and abuse in documentary filmmaking. This series culminated in the publication of Centering Survivor Stories: A Filmmaking Series, a comprehensive resource outlining best practices. Human rights attorney Sherizaan Minwalla, founder of Taboo Legal, LLC, expanded on this with Advancing a Global Human Rights Approach to Media Accountability.

During this process, we uncovered more profound gaps:

• Trauma extends beyond sexual violence to include conflict, war, child abuse, intimate partner violence, imprisonment, homelessness, natural disasters, religious abuse, and systemic oppression related to racism, ableism, and extreme poverty.

• The nonfiction media industry lacks consistent accountability structures, leading to repeated harm, even among well-intentioned media makers, due to a lack of standardization in knowledge of best practices that protect human rights during content creation. While more regulated, journalism still falls short in prioritizing participant rights through a comprehensive and informed consent process, as well as trauma-informed care.

• Power dynamics, cultural insensitivity, and industry pressures contribute to the violation of participants rights, prioritizing artistic intention over participants’ rights to agency and control over their image and person.

🔹 Learn more about our workshops and download Centering Survivor Stories today.

The Solution: A Participant-Centered Approach

Participant Rights: Best Practices for Informed Consent, Trauma-Informed, and Community-Centered Non-Fiction Storytelling will be an interactive Field Guide and Toolkit for documentary filmmakers, photojournalists, and nonfiction visual storytellers. It is built on three fundamental pillars rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 1, 3, and 12):

✅ Human Rights and Consistent Informed Consent
✅ Accountable Trauma-Informed Care
✅ Culturally Competent, Community-Centered Storytelling

This guide will:

• Ensure the human rights of documentary participants are protected.
• Establish collaborative, human rights, and trauma-informed best practices for nonfiction storytelling.
• Reduce and ideally eliminate harm caused by the filmmaking process.

The Process: A Collaborative, Global Effort

Over three to five years, the initiative will be led by a Steering Committee, Co-Managers, and Working Groups comprising experts in documentary film, journalism, media production, human rights law, international development, mental health, and survivor advocacy from around the world.

• Steering Committee: A diverse, global team of survivors, industry leaders, and human rights experts guiding the project.
• Co-Managers: Appointed by the Steering Committee, responsible for facilitating discussions, coordinating research, overseeing production, and writing the guide.
• Working Groups: Experts develop core sections of the Field Guide, analyze existing resources, and identify areas for improvement.
• Preview Events: Discuss with stakeholders to refine the guide, assess gaps, and incorporate diverse perspectives.

Get Involved: Be Part of the Change

 🤝 Partner with Us – Endorse the Field Guide, contribute funding, or join our working groups.
🎧 Listen & Share – Engage with our podcast series and workshop documentation.
💡 Suggest a Resource – Help us expand our knowledge base.
📢 Spread the Word – Share our initiative on social media using our official hashtags.
📩 Stay Updated – Sign up for our mailing list for exclusive updates.

 💰 Make a Donation – Your support makes ethical storytelling possible. Donate today to help build a new standard for participant rights in filmmaking.

Who We Are

Meet the Team

👤 Anne, Bora, Jennifer, Sky, and Toni – Learn more about the people leading this initiative. [Our Photos & BIos]

Consortium & Partners

🎥 Consortium organizations, including Art Works Projects, Re-Present Media, and The Video Consortium, among others, are driving human rights-based media making. [w/ logos]

🎙️ Podcast Partners – Bringing expert voices into the conversation. [w/logos and hyperlinks to podcast episodes]

💡 Endorsements – Leading industry professionals and organizations supporting our work.  [w/ logos]

💰Funding Partners – Brief description of how they are supporting the project [w/ logos]

🔹 Join our community and be part of the future of ethical nonfiction media.

Join the Movement

Follow & Engage using our official hashtags:
#BeyondEthics
#FilmParticipantRights
#InformedConsentFilmmaking
#FilmParticipantFreedom
#EthicsArentEnough

#HumanRightsFilmmaking

#FilmmakerAccountability

🔹 Want to make an impact? Share this initiative and help redefine the standards of ethical documentary filmmaking.