Definitions and Methodologies

Insecurity Insight applies strict, consistent and standardised definitions for the coding of data. Details on the definitions which are used for specific projects can be found below on this page.

Aid in Danger

Monthly News Brief 

Included: Any act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and provision of aid.  

Killed: Refers to a staff member being killed by the use of violence or abuse (not as a result of an accident or illness). Note: aid workers killed while in captivity are counted as ‘kidnapped’ and not ‘killed’.

Kidnapped: Refers to a staff member being taken into captivity. Aid workers killed while in captivity are counted as ‘kidnapped’ and not ‘killed’. As subcategories, a distinction is made between aid workers being kidnapped or disappeared/missing based on key characteristics within an event:  

·      Who did it? An aid worker is coded as ‘kidnapped’ if taken by a non-state actor. An aid worker is coded as ‘disappeared/missing’ if reportedly taken by a state actor or by paramilitary groups aligned with state actors.

·      Method of communication by the perpetrator following the event: an aid worker is coded as ‘kidnapped’ if demands related to the release are made. An aid worker is coded as ‘disappeared/missing’ if no communication is received from the perpetrators. 

Arrested: Refers to a staff member being arrested, charged, detained, fined or imprisoned by a state authority or a non-state actor acting as a government.  

Insecurity Insight makes no independent judgement about the legality or justification of any reported arrest, charge, detention, fine or imprisonment. 


Definition of Arrest
Arrest: Deprivation of liberty following accusations of or being charged with a crime.
Charges: Formal legal charge made by a governmental authority asserting that someone has committed a crime.
Detention: Keeping a person in custody prior to official charges or without any official charges; includes temporary detention for hours or days.
Fines: An amount of money that must be paid as a punishment for not obeying a rule or law.
Imprisonment: Holding a person in a known official or unknown location, such as a jail or prison, often following formal charges.

Arrest Context
Administrative: Abuse of power (demands for payments in return for release/corrupt activity by the arresting body) and the application/implementation of regulations (searches in hotels or other locations usually focused on the identification of the individual).
Personal Behaviour: Drunken and disorderly behaviour, disputes, illegal weapon or drug possession, fraudulent activity, sexual offences, cyber crime, arrest following a road traffic accident, or accusations of offensive social media activity.
Personal Profile: An individual’s identity, physical appearance, ethnicity, sexual orientation, refusal of military service, or other.
Aid Work-Related: Being questioned on agency activities, accusations about aid delivery or the diversion of aid to specific communities or aid delivery by specific donors. 
Political Activism or Political Activities by an Agency or Individual: Positions on the death penalty or the rights of specific groups; accusations of political activities by an agency or individual (including membership of alleged terrorist or opposition groups), which are denied by the individual or organisation; or social media activity considered by state authorities to be encouraging opposition sentiments. 

Injuries and Assaults
Beaten: Refers to a staff member being assaulted, usually carried out with body parts (fist, feet) or objects.
Wounded: Refers to a staff member being injured. Most injuries are inflicted with either firearms or explosive weapons.  

Crime
Any criminally motivated event in which aid agency or aid worker property was stolen, destroyed or otherwise misappropriated.
Armed robbery: Refers to events in which (a) the perpetrator was armed (with any weapon, including a knife); (b) the aid worker was present during the incident and fully aware of being robbed; and (c) property was taken. 
Arson: Refers to events in which someone deliberately and maliciously set fire to agency buildings or vehicles. 
Break-in: Refers to illegal, forced entry into aid agency premises or vehicles, with the intention to steal.   ·        
Burglary: Refers to a break-in at a staff residence, usually with the intention to steal; residents were unaware of the break-in either because they were absent or sleeping.
Carjacking: Refers to the forced stopping and then theft of an agency or supply vehicle; includes hijackings.
Looting: Refers to the theft of aid agency property during unrest, violence, riots or other upheavals.     
Property damage: Refers to the damaging of office or project buildings, vehicles or other property, often during an attack, fighting during armed conflict, or other situations of violence.       
Robbery: Refers to events in which (a) the perpetrator was not armed; (b) the aid worker was present during the incident and fully aware of being robbed; and (c) property was taken.   
Theft: Refers to events in which items were taken from staff without their being aware that property was being taken. 

Damage and Destruction of Organisational Infrastructure
Damage: Organisational infrastructure was damaged, including partially destroyed and heavily damaged. 
Destruction: Organisational infrastructure was destroyed.

Sexual Violence and Abuse

Our project distinguishes between:
Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA): Occurs when an aid worker or field staff member attempts or performs acts of sexual exploitation, violence or abuse on children, families, and communities where they are working.
Sexual Violence in the Aid Workplace: Occurs when a person attempts or performs acts of sexual violence on a colleague, peer, former employee or volunteer at work.  

Definition of different forms of sexual violence and abuse
Unwanted Sexual Comments: Verbal advances that include whistling, shouting, and/or saying sexually explicit or implicit phrases or propositions that are unwanted by the survivor.       
Unwanted Sexual Touching: Touching of an unwanted sexual nature regardless of the intensity of touch. Can include massage, groping, grabbing, or grazing of any part of another person’s body.      
Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when they affect the employment of the targeted person when a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, or b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Aggressive Sexual Behaviour: Potentially violent behaviour focused on gratifying sexual drives.
Attempted Sexual Assault: Attempted act of sexual contact on the body of another person without his or her consent.     
Sexual Assault: Act of sexual contact on the body of another person without his or her consent.  
Rape: Sexual intercourse (vaginal or anal penetration) against the will and without the consent of the person.
Other: Acts of a sexual nature that do not fall into other categories, such as the taking or sharing of nude pictures or videos without permission.

Reporting Sexual Violence

This monthly document covers publicly reported events of sexual violence committed by members of the security forces and conflict actors or as experienced by IDPs or refugees. It bears witness to the bravery of survivors who speak out.


Inclusion criteria:
– If the perpetrator is a member of a state or private security force or is an actor in a conflict between groups. Such conflicts include state-based armed conflicts, non-state conflicts, ethnic or religious conflicts, and drug wars, or
– If the survivor is a member of a social group affected by conflict recognizable by the fact that they sought protection in an IDP or refugee system.

Member of Security Forces: Perpetrators of sexual violence where the report alleges that the perpetrator was a member of a state security force (police or armed forces) or a private security company or militia force.
Conflict Actors: Perpetrators of sexual violence in events that took place in regions affected by conflict and where the perpetrator was either armed or wore a uniform or displayed characteristics that suggestions a link to a group engaged in conflict such as use of a specific language or membership of a specific ethnic group.
Survivours Among Conflict Affected Groups: Survivours who the report specified lived in an IDP or refugee setting or are otherwise identified as specific vulnerable people due to a situation broadly linked to widespread violence such as orphans or war widows.

Attacks on Health Care


Key definitions
Health worker: Any person working in a professional or voluntary capacity in the provision of health services or who provides direct support to patients, including administrators, ambulance personnel, community health workers, dentists, doctors, government health officials, hospital staff, medical education staff, nurses, midwives, paramedics, physiotherapists, surgeons, vaccination workers, volunteers, or any other health personnel not named here.
Health worker affected: Describes events in which at least one health worker was killed, injured, kidnapped, arrested, or experienced sexual violence, threats, or harassment.
Health facility: Any facility that provides direct support to patients, including clinics, hospitals, laboratories, makeshift hospitals, medical education facilities, mobile clinics, pharmacies, warehouses, or any other health facility not named here.
Health facility affected: Describes events in which at least one health facility was damaged, destroyed, or subjected to armed entry, military occupation, or looting.
Health transport: Any vehicle used to transport any injured or ill person, or woman in labour, to a health facility to receive medical care.
Health transport affected: Describes events in which at least one ambulance or other health transport was damaged, destroyed, hijacked, or delayed, with or without a person requiring medical assistance on board.


Monthly News Brief definition
Any act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and delivery of curative and/or preventive health services.
Included: Any event in which health workers, health facilities or the process of delivering health care including an act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and delivery of curative and/or preventive health services. These include actions that lead to large scale interference in the provision of health care such as strikes and protests and attacks by any person or group of people including criminal gangs, patients or their relatives.


Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) definition
Any act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and delivery of curative and/or preventive health services in countries experiencing conflict if they are perpetrated by an actor in a conflict.
Included: Any attack on health care because of attacks on health workers, health facilities or the process of delivering health care including an act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and delivery of curative and/or preventive health services that is carried out by an actor linked to conflict (state forces or non-state actors).
Excluded: Other actions of interference in the provision of health care such as strikes and protests. Attacks on health care carried out by non-conflict actors such as criminals, patients, other civilians.

Insecurity Insight uses SHCC definition for the SHCC dataset’s and for selective events published in the Monthly News Brief.


Attacks on Ebola Response definition

Any act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and delivery of curative and/or preventive health services, perpetrated by state and non state actors, patients or relatives of patients, private individuals and criminals.

Methodology
The events have been systematically compiled from three categories of sources: (a) verified security events submitted to Insecurity Insight by 28 Aid in Danger partner agencies; (b) open source publicly reported events identified by Insecurity Insight and published in the Attacks on Health Care Monthly News Brief; and (c) events from the WHO SSA.

Note: For this project only, our definition of an ‘attack’ goes beyond the definition used by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) and includes events perpetrated by patients or relatives of patients, private individuals and criminals, as well as those perpetrated by state and non state actors as covered by the SHCC.

Caveats
Not representative or a comprehensive compilation of all events affecting the provision of healthcare in the DRC. Data collection is ongoing and data may change as more information is made available.

Education in Danger

Monthly News Brief
Any act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and provision of education.
Included: Any attack on education because of attacks on educators, schools or education facilities or the process of providing education including an act of verbal or physical violence, obstruction, or threat of violence that interferes with the availability, access, and provision of education, including events perpetrated by state actors, non-state actors, students, private individuals and criminals as well as significant strike action or protests by students.


Teachers killed, kidnapped and arrested (KKA) and schools damaged and destroyed (DD)
Teacher: Anyone working professionally in the education system, or volunteering at any level of the education system, including teachers, academics, education support and transport staff (e.g., education administrators, janitors, bus drivers, librarians), or education officials.
Killed: Refers to a teacher being killed. Teacher(s) killed while in captivity are coded as ‘kidnapped’.
Kidnapped: Refers to a teacher being kidnapped, missing or taken hostage.
Arrested: Refers to a teacher being arrested, charged, detained, fined or imprisoned. The classification is based on reported but not independently verified information. Insecurity Insight project makes no independent judgement about the legality of any reported arrest or detention.

Schools: Any facility providing education or resource which is used to support the educational process, including kindergartens, schools, universities, technical and vocational education training institutes, textbook and school warehouse facilities.
Damage: School was reported as damaged (partially destroyed and heavily damaged) during the incident.
Destruction: School was reported as destroyed in the incident.


Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA)
The use threatened or actual use of force by state forces or non-state armed groups to target students, education personnel, or educational infrastructure or materials for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic, or religious reasons. Attacks that clearly have criminal motivations, or that are perpetrated by lone wolf actors are not included.

GCPEA has six sub-categories of attacks on education:
Attacks on Schools: Targeted violent attacks or threats of violent attack on primary or secondary school infrastructure, or collateral damage to that infrastructure due to indiscriminate fighting or attacks. Examples include arson, explosive attacks, airstrikes, shelling, or crossfire.
Attacks on Students, Teachers, and other Education Personnel: Targeted violent attacks or threats of attack on primary or secondary school students or educators, which take place in school settings or on the way to or from school, or otherwise target these individuals for education-related reasons. Also included are cases in which repression to silence students or education personnel in the context of education (e.g. in school settings or in the case that they are protesting education-related issues). Examples include targeted killings, injuries, torture, abductions, forced disappearances, or threats of violence
Military Use of Schools or Universities: Cases in which armed forces or non-state armed groups occupy schools and use them for purposes that support a military effort, such as bases, barracks, and temporary shelters for those associated with fighting forces; for fighting positions, weapons storage facilities, and detention and interrogation centers; and for military training or drilling soldiers.
Child Recruitment at, or en route to or from, School: Cases in which state forces forcibly recruit children from their schools or school routes in violation of international standards, or cases in which non-state armed groups use schools or school routes as locales for recruiting girls and boys in violation of international standards. Children may be recruited as fighters, spies, or intelligence sources; for domestic work; to transport weapons or other materials; or for any other purposes associated with the armed group.
Sexual Violence by Armed Parties at, or en route to or from, School or University: Cases in which state security forces or non-state armed groups rape, sexually harass, or abuse students or educators; abduct students or educators for sexual purposes; recruit students or educators to serve a sexual function in an armed force or armed group; or threaten to engage in such conduct.
Attacks on Higher Education: Targeted violent attacks or threats of violent attack on higher education infrastructure or collateral damage to that infrastructure due to indiscriminate fighting or attacks. Also includes targeted violent attacks or threats of attack targeted university students, professors, or personnel, as well as cases in which repression is used to students or education personnel in the context of education.
Education Personnel: Anyone working professionally in the education system, or volunteering at any level of the education system, including teachers, academics, education support and transport staff (e.g., education administrators, janitors, bus drivers, librarians), or education officials.
Educational Facilities and Materials: Any facility providing education or resource which is used to support the educational process, including kindergartens, schools, universities, technical and vocational education training institutes, textbook and school warehouse facilities, vehicles carrying school supplies, school buses, etc.