The Our Voices University Network (OVUN) started in 2019. It was established to facilitate links between academics around the globe working on participatory research addressing the prevention and response to sexual violence against children. In this blog, the Leadership Team share reflections of the successes and challenges of running such a network.

This blog, written by staff at Terre des Hommes Netherlands, shares how they drew on resources developed through the ‘Our Voices’ programme of work. The authors explain how they used guidance from ‘Creating a Safe Space’ to help them plan and facilitate participatory group workshops to explore the concept of exploitation with children in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Uganda.

This blog shares the reflections of PhD researcher and OVUN member, Janelle Rabe, on navigating participatory research with young people on the topic of sexual violence.

In September 2022, three research teams – each including youth advisors and academics - came together in an online interactive webinar to share their learning and reflections from working together on research projects spanning issues related to adolescent health, gender and violence. This blog summarises some key themes that were explored during the event and provides details of further resources.

On Monday 18th November, to mark the European Day on the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, the ‘International Centre, researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking’ (IC) at the University of Bedfordshire, in the UK will be sharing findings from the Our Voices Too Youth Advocacy Project

In early September the Our Voices Too team at the International Centre (IC) organised our second shared learning event in Chisinau, Moldova, for the Our Voices Too Youth Advocacy Project.  This two day meeting brought together our partners - Different & Equal in Albania; the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) in Moldova and ATINA in Serbia to share learning on how the project has been developing.

This blog shares considerations for meaningfully involving young people in advocacy on sexual violence, and in participatory research and practice more broadly.

In this new podcast we share some key findings from the Being Heard report, a review of the international evidence on youth participatory research on sexual violence against children. We focus in particular on a question that researchers and organisations working with young people often grapple with: can vulnerable young people, including those who have been affected by sexual violence, actually 'do research' on such a sensitive topic?

Following our scoping visits to Albania, Serbia and Moldova last year, we are delighted to introduce the partner organisations that will implement the Our Voices Too project and we look forward to embarking on the next phase of this innovative project with them!

Dr Isabelle Brodie (International Centre) shares findings from a scoping review of the literature she conducted with colleagues from the International Centre on the participation of young people in child sexual exploitation (CSE) services. The review was part of the Alexi Project and can be accessed here. Isabelle speaks about the different meanings of participation, what conditions need to be in place in order to make participative working possible and effective, and shares young people and professionals' views on participation in CSE services; what they value and what they find challenging.

This case study discussion will be based on a number of different experiences of accompanying and supporting young people affected by sexual violence to participate in conferences overseas. It will explore and reflect on different scenarios that have arisen during these trips that predominantly revolve around the age of these young people.

The session wil take place on 22 March at 1pm (UK time).

If you wish to join the session please make sure that you register to join the network and email delphine.girma@beds.ac.uk to reserve a place and receive further details.

This blog reflects on our trip to Moldova as part of the Our Voices Too scoping. Through discussions with organisations and individuals working in the fields of sexual violence, child rights, and participation, we found that Moldova shared some of the same socio-political barriers to participatory work with young people affected by sexual violence that we encountered in our previous visits to Albania and Serbia.

On the 29-30 November we hosted the Our Voices Partner Meeting in Luton. This event brought together partners and Youth Facilitators from the LEAP project, new partners for the Our Voices Too project, and representatives from youth networks and other organisations in Europe. 23 participants attended the meeting travelling from Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, the UK and the Netherlands.

This blog reflects on a recent trip to Serbia and explores the importance of exploring the socio-political context when thinking about projects involving children and young people affected by sexual violence.

On the 17th November 2017 the LEAP project came to an end. This blog, written by Kate D'Arcy the Project Coordinator for LEAP, shares what has been developed as a result of this two year European project.