Relaying Human Suffering Can Be Just as Painful as the Victims’

Human Rights Watch volunteers enjoy a close relationship with the people they serve; yet direct contact is both a blessing and a curse, particularly when covering victims of violence.

One human rights watch translator describes his horrid experiences when listening to, translating and documenting the most heart breaking stories of the Syrian people who are prepared to pay the very dear price of life to live in freedom.

Being at odds with respect for victims and their issues, writer Hani Hazaimeh highlights the difficulty of separating himself and becoming involved with the victims. The writer records his priorities, stressing that he must empower readers, providing them with information that they can use to understand the problem and to somehow do their part in preventing and solving it.

While attempting to help victims tell their story, Hazaimeh writes of times when stories of torture illustrated that no matter how hard he tried to remain detached the human cruelty his story tellers relayed to him proved that he was not a mere translating devise, but a person who had feelings, and although he may not have experienced the real physical pain the victims of Syria’s Bashar were subjected to, translating people’s pain and sufferings could very well be just as painful and emotionally devastating.

The article written in the Huffington Post maintains that reporting on violence takes its toll, noting that just as victims of violence are at risk of being traumatized, so are those who cover their stories.