Two health care workers wearing face masks sit in a lobby, they seem exhausted.

Atlas of Attacks: Global Violence Against Healthcare

Human Rights Investigations Lab 2020-2021

Student Investigations Lab Project

Several emergency health workers are pictured with P.P.E.
Emergency medical personnel arrive at San Francisco’s International Airport March 16, 2020. Photo by Anne Daugherty.

During summer 2020, a team of students in the Investigations Lab identified, verified, and mapped attacks on health. Lab students and Insecurity Insight documented more than 1,100 attacks and threats of violence medical personnel, patients, health care facilities, and medical transport. Students monitored and when possible verified events reported by online sources. These sources included local news agencies, NGOs, civil society groups, and user-generated content shared by individuals on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. This report compiles incidents between January — December 2020.

The Human Rights Center Investigations Lab conducted online monitoring and targeted searches of user-generated content in areas of concern or where attacks were likely under-reported: Myanmar, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, DRC, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mexico, Honduras, and Libya. A team of 10 students identified and analyzed news reports, social media posts, photographs, and videos publicly available on the internet to identify and verify data for this report.

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Team Acknowledgements

Investigation Leads: Anne Daugherty, Devon Lum, and Stephanie Croft

Staff Oversight and Editing: Rohini Haar, Stephanie Croft, Andrea Lampros, Alexa Koenig, and Eric Stover

Student Contributors: Alyssia Beu, Danielle Kaye, Eliza Hollingsworth, Eve Devillers, Janine Graham, Jennifer Kwon, Kavya Nambiar, Kung Chen, Makaila Heifner, and Samantha Vuong

News

A man takes a photograph of a burned building.

March 1, 2021

COVID-19 pandemic fuels attacks on health workers globally

A police officer takes pictures of a burned-out coronavirus testing facility in the fishing village of Urk in the Netherlands after it was set on fire the night before by rioting youths protesting on the first night of a nationwide curfew.