Improving participatory practice with children and young people affected by sexual violence – learning from practitioners and young people voices' - Involving young people in efforts to prevent sexual violence in Europe: why and how?

Objective To assert the importance of participation for children and young people affected by sexual violence this paper draws on learning from a pan-European project ‘Our Voices’ which aimed to give young people,... [ view full abstract ]

Objective

To assert the importance of participation for children and young people affected by sexual violence this paper draws on learning from a pan-European project ‘Our Voices’ which aimed to give young people, including those affected by sexual violence, a voice in work to stop sexual violence against children. The key themes that emerged are explored and the paper offers a series of recommendations for practitioners and policy makers.

Method

As part of the project a number of activities and events were undertaken. This included a series of consultation workshops and small scale youth-led projects with children and young people in Albania, Bulgaria and England. The project also involved hosting a number of workshops and events with practitioners and policy makers to explore and discuss the involvement and participation of young people affected by sexual violence in participatory projects and processes.

Results

Analysis of activities and events raised a number of consistent themes. Firstly, young people want and need more information about sexual violence and feel strongly that young people, including those with experiences of sexual violence, should be involved in efforts to prevent and respond. Young people have they own ideas about their involvement and how they would wish to be supported in such work. Young people and practitioners are aware of the potential risks inherent in participatory practice and in this paper a number of suggested strategies for risk management will be shared.

Conclusions

Young people, particularly those directly affected by sexual violence, have an important role to play in shaping practice and policy that aims to address sexual violence. For this to happen, practitioners must have access to training, resources and support to provide them with the confidence and skills to safely, ethically and meaningfully engage young people in participatory processes.