It’s Time to Curb the White Savior Complex in Humanitarian Advocacy

What’s happening in Ethiopia? How can we help the women fleeing Syria? What can we do to combat child labor in Bangladesh? As I scroll through my Instagram feed, I am overwhelmed with carousel graphics telling me how I can “save” individuals in crisis. International conflicts are more public than ever, and the rise of online activism has made social media users more inclined to want to help humanitarian efforts.

On a superficial level, this can be a good thing. Content that advocates for global causes is primarily created and shared by well-intentioned people. But those content creators also, more often than not, live outside of the crises they try to raise awareness about and sometimes don’t have completely relevant or correct information. Ill-informed efforts can spread at alarming rates and have dangerous, and exploitative, repercussions for people living through war, famine, or disasters.

This content is often a result of the “white savior complex,” or when someone in a position of privilege attempts to rescue a vulnerable community because they believe they inherently have the skills and knowledge to solve the problems that a community faces. In many humanitarian cases, the white savior is a white person attempting to solve situations faced by a marginalized group in the Global South. While the white savior complex is manifested in different ways today, the mindset dates back to Western colonialism.

Take, for example, the Afghanistan crisis. When international support poured in after the devastating fall of Kabul in August of 2021, social media users around the globe began reposting photos of Afghan women across Instagram and Twitter in donation campaigns. But those women’s photos were sometimes linked to public campaigns without their consent. What’s more, photos that disclosed women’s identities put them at potential risk of harm and retaliation inside their country. Sharing photos of Afghan women and girls for the sympathy of Western audiences is not new; the famed National Geographic photograph taken of a young Afghan refugee in 1984 titled Afghan Girl is just one case of the white savior complex.

This isn’t to say that outsiders should not care about conflict. It is important to spread international awareness and there are incredible initiatives run by experts that support survivors of crises on the ground. But we need to uplift campaigns and organizations that center “decolonizing humanitarian aid” in their mission. In May of 2021, the international organization Peace Direct published a report outlining ways that humanitarian organizations can decolonize aid and allow individuals in conflict to lead planning and implementing programs in their own communities.

Individuals can reject the white savior complex and support efforts that decolonize humanitarian work, too. Here are just a few ways:

1. Center the voices of local people and community-led organizations: Local organizations run by individuals from conflict-affected groups know the real needs of their own communities. Many have public social media accounts that publicize their own campaigns and initiatives. Some large organizations have started to run grant programs to fund smaller local initiatives as well, such as the Network for Empowered Aid Response’s Change Fund and Women for Women International’s Conflict Response Fund.

2. Do your own research on conflicts and listen to survivors who lived through them: ALWAYS check the source of news articles and social media materials before sharing or reposting information. Firsthand accounts from advocates in the conflict should always be the first message you amplify, followed by information from trained humanitarian workers working directly with survivors.

3. Examine the language you use when talking about people in crisis: Avoid posting or resharing anything that uses language that takes away survivors’ agency. Post messages that “support and uplift survivors” instead of “saving victims.” Also avoid outdated terms such as “third-world countries.”

4. Think before you reshare images or videos: Limit the use of videos and images of individuals in conflict unless it is to empower their story. For example, resharing videos of violence taken without the consent of the survivors can be dehumanizing. It can also be triggering to other viewers who have experienced similar circumstances. If you repost any firsthand photos or videos, always remember to ask for consent.

5. Examine your own motivations: Before posting or resharing, ask yourself why you’re posting. What is the intended outcome of the advocacy message you are sharing? How will this affect the people you are supporting? Could there be any negative impacts?