Safe Research Ethics Framework

Researcher safety in Europe is increasingly at risk, especially for those studying politically sensitive topics. Despite escalating threats, systematic protections remain limited. Existing protocols prioritize participant safety while neglecting the vulnerabilities of researchers. Responsibility for safeguarding researchers is often fragmented and contested. The Safe Research Ethics Framework report examines current approaches to researcher safety and introduces Feminist Care Ethics as a framework for developing protections. Emphasizing relationships, interdependence, and context, it explicitly addresses gender, power, and inequality—offering an alternative to universalist, impersonal ethics frameworks that obscure differential vulnerabilities. Using desk research and a co-creative self-study with members of the MEN4DEM consortium—including researchers, artists, and activists—we mapped risks and unmet needs. The resulting MEN4DEM Researcher Safety Helpdesk offers practical infrastructure, including guides, training, events, support directories, and peer-based mechanisms. While tailored to MEN4DEM, this framework and toolset offer a transferable roadmap for building collective, democratic researcher safety infrastructures across diverse contexts.