Human rights researchers undertaking fieldwork in fragile contexts must immerse themselves in the stories and lives of survivors who have endured horrific abuse. The emotional intensity of this work makes researchers highly vulnerable to compassion fatigue, often manifesting as psychological exhaustion, detachment, and diminished empathy. Left untreated or unrecognised, compassion fatigue not only erodes researcher wellbeing but also undermines the integrity of fieldwork and the quality of evidence produced. This paper argues that compassion fatigue in such contexts cannot be fully understood or addressed without recognising the role of moral injury. Researchers frequently encounter systemic barriers — underfunded institutions, hostile gatekeepers, restrictive protocols — that prevent them from acting in accordance with their ethical commitments to survivors. The resulting dissonance between moral intention and institutional constraint creates conditions where compassion fatigue is compounded by profound moral distress. Moral injury thus represents a missing link in understanding the emotional and ethical toll of human rights research. Focusing on the ethics review process within universities and research institutions, this paper interrogates whether current systems adequately prepare, monitor, and support researchers undertaking fragile fieldwork. We contend that most institutional frameworks remain compliance-driven, oriented to physical safety and informed consent, while leaving the psychosocial risks of compassion fatigue and moral injury largely unaddressed. This shortfall creates a “culture of silence” in which researchers are left isolated to manage their own vulnerability, despite clear institutional duties of care. Drawing theoretically from psychology, occupational health, and trauma studies, and critically engaging with scholars who foreground psychosocial hazards in high-stakes work, we develop an Ethics Framework for Vulnerable Researchers. This framework identifies intervention points across preparation, fieldwork, and debriefing, and integrates strategies for recognising, preventing, and repairing moral injury as well as mitigating compassion fatigue. Our intention is to open an honest, transparent conversation on the emotional and ethical costs of human rights research, and to spur institutions towards systems of accountability that move beyond procedural ethics to trauma-informed, survivor-centred, and researcher-protective practice.