'What do you think we are...animals?!' Ethical challenges of conducting research with victim/survivor communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper examines the ethical challenges faced when conducting ethnographic research with victim/survivor communities in transitional Bosnia and Herzegovina. It draws upon a period of ten years research with human rights activists, victims/survivors, victims associations, civil society, and members of the public to unpack a variety of ethical challenges faced by the researcher. This paper will explore the tensions between the theoretical and practical implementation and ethical challenges faced within the field by focusing on the issues of researching with vulnerable and marginalised populations, the power dynamics in the 'researcher-researched' relationship, and researcher fatigue (Muir, 2015) within these communities. This paper intends to illuminate these challenges and tensions in an effort to contribute to on-going discussions within the field of transitional justice.