One of the flagship initiatives of the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF), the Violent Incidents Database (VID), represents a landmark contribution to the global effort to promote religious freedom.
Developed as a publicly accessible, open-source platform, the VID uses an events-based methodology to document violations of religious freedom across all continents. It seeks to inform scholarly research, support international policy interventions, and empower advocacy within civil society. We have just published our methodology in a peer-reviewed social sciences journal with open access.
The uniqueness of the VID lies in its granular tracking of actual incidents—rather than perceptions or expert opinions—capturing a wide array of both physical and non-physical violations. These include, but are not limited to, killings, abductions, destruction of religious buildings and sites, arrests, detentions, and people being forced to flee their home or country. The data come from published media sources and partner institutions, are validated by researchers, and are systematically coded based on standardized criteria.
As emphasized in a recent IIRF Report, the VID is not just a dataset—it is a social innovation for religious freedom. It complements existing tools such as the Pew Government Restrictions Index and the Varieties of Democracy Index by offering verifiable, incident-based data. This level of detail enables subnational analysis and offers insights into both state and non-state actors. The coverage of non-state actors is particularly crucial in regions where organized crime or traditional authority structures pose serious threats to religious freedom.
The IIRF’s strategic collaborations have been instrumental in expanding the VID’s global reach. The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Latin America (OLIRE) provided a historical backbone, while the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) contributed vital data from Nigeria. Supported by Global Christian Relief, the VID currently contains over 7,000 incident records from the period 2021–2024, covering dozens of countries and multiple religious communities. The public is invited to contribute additional incidents via an online form with an online incident reporting guide. This participatory model enhances both transparency and inclusiveness, allowing the VID to evolve dynamically with input from a broad base of stakeholders.
The VID also addresses critical gaps in data on freedom of religion and belief (FoRB). For instance, many violations occur in contexts not traditionally captured by international metrics, such as religiously motivated violence perpetrated by cartels in Latin America or coercion from indigenous authorities. A recent report from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom on indigenous communities in the region, based in part on VID data, demonstrates how violations of both individual and collective religious freedom are often intertwined with socio-political exclusion and forced religious conformity.
Upcoming posts will explore how specific research queries can be conducted using the VID, showcasing its utility in academic analysis and policy design.