The International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) recently launched the Violent Incident Database (VID), an initiative to collect, record and analyze incidents related to religious freedom violations across the world. The VID aims to identify violations of religious freedom on five continents, with an emphasis on monitoring physical violence, but cannot claim exhaustive coverage. The data included in the VID is based on reports published in digital media available on the Internet. Many incidents are never made public or do not receive enough attention from authorities or the media. The database is constantly updated as researchers identify religious freedom violations, but it is a complex undertaking.
The VID distinguishes between two distinct types of religious freedom violations: physical violence and non-physical violence. Physical violence includes murder, torture, kidnapping, or similar attacks stemming from a person’s religious identification. Non-physical violence can manifest itself through discriminatory legislation, social pressure, cultural marginalization, government discrimination, barriers to conversion, barriers to participation in public affairs, restrictions on religious life or any symbolic or form. structural offense. Both categories are important. You can learn more about the VID methodology here.
Primarily using publicly available digital media on the Internet as its primary source, the VID supplements this information with field interviews, desk research, and reports from partner organizations. Additionally, individuals can contribute incident reports via an online form.
“Commitment to freedom of religion or belief through politics or the media must be based on the best available data, an area exclusively provided by well-designed research. I am proud of the continued efforts of the current IRTI leadership team, which has grown significantly from its humble beginnings 15 years ago. The Violent Incident Database, developed under their leadership, makes religious freedom violations accessible to everyone, regardless of the identity of the victims or attackers and the location of these incidents. .” expressed Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, General Secretary (CEO) of the World Evangelical Alliance and founder of the IIRF.
“We live in a world where violent persecution of Christians and other religious groups is endemic and growing. ” said Dr. Ronald Boyd-MacMillan, head of global strategy and research for Global Christian Relief, who is also a senior researcher at IIRF. “This database not only helps us track violence, but also to better understand what persecuted Christians really expect from their brothers and sisters around the world. »
The VID initially focused on collecting cases in Latin America, the compilation of incidents from the region dating back to 2002 was maintained by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Latin America (OLIRE). OLIRE continues to collaborate with IIRF to provide data for Latin America. Data for Nigeria are provided by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA). With support and funding from Christian Relief World, the IIRF has expanded its incident coverage to the rest of the world, spanning five continents and collecting incidents from 2021 to 2023.
The violent incident database will be highlighted at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC, January 30-31.
To access the VID please Click Here.
Originally published in The European Times.
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