Photos
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| © UNICEF/HQ02-0566/Pirozzi |
Children are in need of special protection in relation to their identity or personal stories in controversial, culturally sensitive and potentially stigmatizing issues including sexual exploitation, gender violence or discrimination, and HIV/AIDS.
Advocating against human rights abuses can put individual children or women at risk of reprisals, including additional physical or psychological harm and life-long stigmatization or rejection by their local communities. These risks require that both the taking of images of children and women in high-risk situations, and the subsequent use of those images, respect the subject’s rights to privacy, to participate in decisions affecting them, and to protection.
UNICEF has developed guidelines to assist journalists as they report on issues affecting children. The guidelines are meant to support the best intentions of ethical reporters: serving the public interest without compromising the rights of children. (See the full reporting guidelines.)
When to protect visual identities
In instances where publication of an image may put a child or woman at risk even if the name is changed or omitted, it is advisable not to publish the image at all. We advise that children should not be identified, either visually or by name, if the subject(s) are:
- victims, or perpetrators, of sexual exploitation;
- HIV positive;
- charged or convicted of a crime;
- current or former combatants, if being so identified puts them at risk of future reprisals.
However, there are instances where risks exist to the use of a particular image, but arguments for publishing it are valid. This is the case, for example, with child advocates who have chosen to take a public stance on a potentially high-risk subject, either in their community or in national/international fora. In such instances, the child’s right to expression and participation in issues affecting her/him must be respected.
When use is validated for images depicting children identified as being in any of the four groups outlined above, a signed subject release from the child and her/his guardian should be secured. This release must be obtained in circumstances that ensure that the subject is not coerced in any way and understands the implications of the release. At minimum, this means that the release must be in the subject’s language and that the decision is made in consultation with a trusted adult member of the same cultural group.
In all cases, whether or how a subject’s identity should be protected is an editorial judgement that must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. This underscores the importance of applying the overriding principle of ‘best interests of the child’ in all circumstances.
We welcome your feedback and requests for photographs. Please contact us via:
E-mail: photo@unicef.org.
Fax: +1-212-326-7571
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Send a written request: | |
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UNICEF Photography Unit, DOC | |
