Our Voices III: challenging sexual violence against children
Our Voices III is the third phase of work led by the Safer Young Lives Research Centre, and co-funded by Oak Foundation. It focuses on the participation of young people impacted by child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSA/E) in research, policy and practice.
This project builds on earlier phases of work. It aims to reduce CSA/E and improve responses by developing, evidencing and championing ethical child-centred, participatory research and practice. This three-year project, running from 2020-2023, includes undertaking a number activities including:
- A Delphi study to develop consensus on whether and how participatory approaches and principles support efforts to prevent CSA/E and respond to those affected. Findings from the study will be translated into outputs and concrete recommendations to influence policy, practice and funding priorities.
- Strengthening the Our Voices University Network (OVUN) to facilitate cross learning and knowledge sharing among researchers globally. It aims to improve and use research evidence to influence practice and policy for children and young people affected by CSA/E. Through various strands of work, a range of resources will be developed to build capacity, share good practice and promote ethical, participatory, child-centred research in the field. Engagement in the network will lead to partnership working across academia and practice within and across subject areas and country contexts.
Outputs
In this podcast, you’ll hear what groups of young people in Kenya, Uganda and the UK have to say about the relationship between participation and protection rights in the context of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Learn more about the podcast
Seeing things from both sides [PDF]: A comic to help young people and professionals understand each other’s views about young survivors’ participation in efforts to address child sexual abuse and exploitation
Claire Cody and Claire Soares
This comic is intended for both young people and professionals. The perspectives of both groups are explored through a series of four specific themes that were identified in our research as particularly complex areas associated with young people’s participation in this context. As readers move through these themes, we hope to spark discussion between and amongst young people and professionals to help them understand each other’s perspectives, needs and concerns when creating safe spaces for young survivors to be heard. We hope to highlight that a consideration of different views can help to support meaningful participation opportunities and outcomes.
To read more about the development of the comic see the Our Voices blog post Conveying complexities through comics
Find out more
To find out more about the Our Voices III project, and to see our blogs and other resources, please visit www.our-voices.org.uk. You can also contact Claire Cody at claire.cody@beds.ac.uk or Jenny Pearce at jenny.pearce@beds.ac.uk if you want to learn more about the OVUN.
address
Safer Young Lives Research Centre
Institute of Applied Social Research
University of Bedfordshire
University Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
UK
LU1 3JU