3: Planning

Thoughtful planning is key to delivering a successful participatory project. Based on our learning from the Our Voices programme (and wider work at the Safer Young Lives Research Centre), we have distilled our learning relating to planning into eight areas.

Once partners have been identified, allowing time for discussions with them at the start (and throughout) is key.

Getting to know each other and developing trust and rapport sets the foundations for positive working partnerships where all parties can establish a common vision and expectations for the project. This is particularly important when working with partners based in different countries and collaborating ‘at a distance’. Investing in relationships with partners at the start sets the tone for participatory activities with children and young people that follow, and helps to create safe and positive experiences for all. 

A process you may find helpful is to develop a Memorandum of Expectations (MoE) which sets out what partners will commit to as part of the project. The MoE sets out the responsibilities of each party, particularly in approaching the wellbeing of young people involved in the work. This often includes a commitment from local facilitating partners to being available to offer emotional support if young people become distressed at any point during their engagement with the project.

Here is a template of a Memorandum of Expectations as an example.

An important part of setting up partnerships is being clear about the time, skills and resources required to do the work, and the available budget to support this. It is important to have open conversations (and minds) about this. Being flexible in how projects are approached and ensuring services can be adequately compensated helps to minimise the burden on services and develop partnerships that are more equitable and mutually rewarding.   

Any engagement with children and young people poses potential risks. Some of the potential concerns when working with children and young people who have experienced childhood sexual violence specifically include:

  • Triggering and re-traumatisation
  • Being identified as a victim/survivor to others (and the stigma and risks attached to this)
  • Interfering in live legal cases pertaining to the abuse
  • Threat of retaliation from family, friends or perpetrators.

Participatory projects and activities with children and young people who have experienced childhood sexual violence involve a level of risk and ‘uncertainty’ (whereby there is potential for positive and negative outcomes). However, if we do not involve young survivors, we risk not understanding their experiences, needs and ideas.

Rather than preventing opportunities for participation, adults involved in this work must understand, anticipate and put in place plans to manage and mitigate potential risks.

Rather than preventing opportunities for participation, adults need to consider these issues upfront to ensure children and young people’s engagement is appropriately planned, facilitated and supported. 

Organisations will have different approaches to doing this. It is important to invest the time to consider your and your team's comfort levels and capacities to engage with and mitigate different dimensions of risk. 

An important stage is discussing with all partners involved the:

  • potential risks and challenges of involving children and young people
  • the benefits and opportunities for children and young people; and
  • the risks of not involving children and young people

Once potential risks and challenges have been identified, it can be helpful to develop a ‘live’ risk register that captures these and includes strategies that can be taken to address and minimise them. 

See a template for a live risk register.

It will also be necessary to engage in conversations about risks, needs and benefits when recruiting individual young people into the project as everyone’s situation and circumstances will differ (see section 4: recruiting children and young people).

Consultation summary: Thinking about risks and benefits with Youth Advisors during the original Our Voices Consultations

The balance between risk and opportunity can be viewed as a barrier to participation. In a consultation with 47 children and young people (42 female and 5 male), when asked about potential barriers that may prevent young people from getting involved in actions to address childhood sexual violence, they listed a number of issues including:

  • Having to re-live experiences and feeling re-traumatised
  • Participation causing stigma or embarrassment for the young people
  • Fear of perpetrators finding out
  • Not having the right information or having previously had a bad experience when engaging in projects
  • Not having the necessary resources and training to carry out the activities
  • The project or activity not feeling organised and 'official'.

Read more about these consultations in 'They don't talk about it enough'.

It will be important to talk to children and young people, and depending on their age and circumstance, parents or carers about the potential risks and benefits involved in project participation (see section 4: recruiting children and young people). It will also be necessary to revisit and rethink these issues throughout the project (see section 6: doing).

However, it is also important during the initial planning stage to discuss approaches to some of these potential risks as a team.

Talking about triggering

A trigger is something that causes someone to feel upset or distressed because they are made to remember something bad that has happened to them in the past. 

Being triggered can be very distressing. A discussion about sexual violence or encountering certain situations, events or sensations may (re)trigger flashbacks or trauma associated with sexual violence. Young survivors may feel they are re-living these traumatic experiences. Different people may be triggered by different things because everyone is an individual with unique experiences.

Fear of triggering is one of the most commonly cited reasons for why young people who have experienced childhood sexual violence are not invited to engage in projects and activities.

Frontline partners supporting young people can be acutely aware of this risk and they, understandably, are likely to have concerns about how this can be mitigated and managed in the project design phase.

Our research that explored outcomes related to participation and protection showed a range of experiences and views on this topic.

The majority of participants agreed that involving children and young people in participatory group work is a risk because they may be triggered during activities and/or find the experience emotionally draining.

Other participants (both professionals and young experts) held the view that the risk of being triggered wasn’t necessarily a reason to withhold participation opportunities, and that – so long as the right support structures are in place – participation activities provide a space in which triggering can be safely managed.

Participants expressed that while being triggered may be difficult at the time, it can play an important part of healing and recovery. Participants explained that being triggered:

  • might expose them to information or provide them with a new understanding that is helpful for them to process and understand what happened to them
  • can provide them with support to understand what their triggers are and how to cope with them
  • can help to allay feelings of self-blame associated with their experiences of abuse
  • is a risk they are prepared to take if they are involved in something that makes a difference and contributes to change.

In discussing the potential for triggering with all involved it can be helpful to consider these perspectives, acknowledge that the risk of triggering cannot be eliminated and discuss actions that can be taken to mitigate the risk.

An image of a young person with an umbrella over her depicting safety and protection

 

Read more on this issue in our Comic on 'Triggering'

 

Public identity disclosure

Participants in our research acknowledge that having an identity linked to painful experiences also comes with potential risks and challenges and that young survivors should not have to publicly disclose personal experiences in order to contribute to different initiatives.

Although this may often be thought about nearer the end during activities and events (see section 6: doing), thinking about the framing and language of the project is something that matters at the start.

This includes thinking about the name of the project, the logo, the description of the project and how young people involved will be described and referred to e.g. young people with lived experience, young researchers, youth advocates etc.(see section 4: recruiting children and young people for more considerations on this).

Read more on this issue in our Comic on 'Public Identity Disclosure'.

 

Interfering in live legal cases pertaining to the abuse

Sometimes young people are not approached about opportunities to take part in research or activities, if a legal (or civil) investigation pertaining to the abuse is ongoing.

There can be concerns that their participation may interfere with or jeopardise the case in some way. For example, there can be fears that the confidentiality of the research might be at risk if the research data was made available to legal teams or police and then used to undermine the case (or civil claim).

There can also be concerns that a young person’s participation may discredit their claim for compensation (for civil investigations).

Practitioners can also be concerned about a young person’s ‘readiness’ to take part in research or other activities while the case is live and the emotional distress this might cause. These concerns are understandable – though do not automatically preclude a young person from taking part.

Practitioners and researchers should be open to discussing concerns, risks and possibilities relating to this. Being clear about consent and confidentiality and the scope of the research activity can support these conversations.

Sometimes practitioners may even wish to seek legal advice (if in contact with the investigation team). It may be that for different reasons it isn’t appropriate for a young person to take part in such activities until criminal proceedings have concluded, but this shouldn’t necessarily be the default position or a reason to not explore the potential for their involvement.  

 

Threat of retaliation from family, friends or perpetrator

Sometimes young people (and their workers) can be uneasy about taking part in research or other activities relating to sexual violence for fear of retaliation from family members, friends, the perpetrator, and/or their wider community.

Retaliation can take all different forms. For example, families of young people may see their participation in activities as ‘bringing shame’ on the family and may want to prevent or punish them for their participation. Retaliation from friends or peers can also take the form of bullying and social isolation, or there can be direct threats or intimidation from the perpetrator if they find out the young person is taking part in work on this topic. The potential for retaliation and associated risks is therefore a concern that requires attention and discussion prior to involving young people in research or participatory activities.

Risks and needs assessments between researchers and practitioners should make space to discuss this and consider any support plans that may be needed. Special attention should be given to anonymity and confidentiality and not sharing any identifying information that could place the young person at risk.

‘Readiness’ can mean different things to different people in different scenarios. It is a difficult concept to define and measure. As recovery is an individual process that looks different for everyone it can be challenging for professionals to always know when a young person may feel ‘ready’ to engage in a participatory activity or project.  

It can be helpful for partners to discuss what the concept of ‘readiness’ may mean to them. For example, some people may feel that young people who have experienced sexual violence should only be invited to participate in participatory projects and activities if:

  • a certain amount of time has passing since the abuse or exploitation occurred
  • they have been accessing support for a number of months or years
  • they are comfortable discussing their experiences with others and with others knowing what has happened to them
  • they are able to listen to and hear other young people’s experiences

As a project team, when thinking about the concept of 'readiness' it can be helpful to remember that:

  • voice and choice are key principles in a trauma-informed response. Therefore whether or not a child or young person wishes, or is able to, engage in a participatory process or project, there should always be opportunities for them to be heard and to inform and influence decisions surrounding his or her own care.
  • involvement in participatory projects and activities that address childhood sexual violence does not necessarily mean children and young people have to talk about their own experiences of abuse
  • we need to talk with the individual young people about the timing of the project or activity and what else may be happening in their lives
  • risk and needs assessment processes may be helpful in creating some structure around these conversations (see theTemplate Risks, needs and benefits discussion guide)
  • there may be additional challenges and risks involved in attempting to engage some children and young people. For example, children who are actively being abused or exploited, those in situations of humanitarian crisis, and those dealing with complex mental health issues.  

 

See section 4: recruiting children and young people for more resources on assessing readiness with individual young people.

Researchers often think about ethics in relation to ethical approvals from ethics committees or boards that may be required. However, gaining ethical approval is just one aspect of ethics. Beyond this, researchers and other professionals involved in this work need to think about the overall ethical approach to children and young people’s engagement.

Identifying and carefully thinking through the ethics of children and young people’s engagement from the outset is critical. The approach should be developed and discussed with all partners involved and result in a ‘living’ ethical protocol that is regularly revisited as the project evolves.

A copy of this protocol can also be used when developing contracts or terms of reference with or between all parties, so that all those involved agree to a set of standards and expectations.

See example ethical protocol here.

Research summary: Participatory research and ethics 

The ‘Being Heard’ project sought to collect and review international evidence on young people’s involvement in research on sexual violence – including a consideration of the meaning, purpose, challenges and opportunities of doing so.

This one-year project, funded by the Oak Foundation was a collaboration between the Safer Young Lives Research Centre at the University of Bedfordshire and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) in South Africa.

As part of this project, a global scoping review was undertaken to inform guidance for children and young people’s involvement in research about childhood sexual violence.

One of the areas the review identified as needing attention was in regard to ethics committees.

The report highlighted three key areas for improvement.

  • Greater understanding of participatory approaches, and the value of these, within ethics committees (which could lead to appropriate assessment of proposals and tailored guidance)
  • Increased engagement of committee members with ethical and legal issues (particularly in international research projects)
  • Strengthening the global ‘ethics infrastructure’ to facilitate a more consistent enforcement of high ethical standards across diverse contexts. 

An illustration of a exclamation mark sign and red flag inbetween two green flags

Read more about ethics in participatory research in Being Heard: Promoting children and young people's involvement in participatory research on sexual violence

Monetary compensation for children and young people who are taking part in participatory projects and activities relating to the topic of childhood sexual violence can be a contentious issue.

The offering of money in exchange for a child or young person’s time and input can be viewed as unduly influencing them to participate – and even as mirroring the element of ‘exchange’ often present in the dynamics of abuse. Because of this, ethics committees may not allow researchers to financially compensate participants.

While ‘compensation’ tends to be used as an umbrella term, there are different forms of compensation. If and how children and young people are compensated for their involvement in participatory projects and activities will differ on a case-by-case basis. It is however always important to consider and discuss options for compensation as a project team in order to share with children and young people the position on this from the start.

Reimbursement of expenses including for travel, meals, snacks to enable them to participate should always be available.

It may also be possible/appropriate to provide children and young people:

  • Payment for the time they give to the project (e.g. on an hourly basis or with a flat fee)
  • Gift vouchers that they can spend on items they want or need
  • Other items that may be of value to them such as sanitary pads, food to be taken home, school supplies (this will depend on the setting/context)
  • Support for them to access education or training

If there is no budget available, or if the team are unable to financially compensate young people, there may be other ways to acknowledge their time and effort such as:

  • Organising a celebratory event at the end of a project
  • Providing other tokens or gestures of thanks and appreciation (e.g. letters, certificates, photographs or other reminders of their time involved in the project)
  • Offering to act as a referee for future applications/ employment
  • Recommending them when other related opportunities arise (e.g.  paid work opportunities relating to this area of work, participation in related advisory boards, or other project work).

Image taken from: Valuing Participation: A comic exploring how young people’s time and contributions are recognised when they take part in projects addressing childhood sexual
violence.

Practice example: Compensating Youth Advocates in the Our Voices Too project

In designing the Our Voices Too ethical protocol we considered the potential advantages and disadvantages of offering payment to youth advocates.

The Youth Advocates were all aged between 18 and 26 and therefore in addition to reimbursing travel and other expenses, the decision was taken that a small wage was a way to make up for any potential losses of earnings incurred during the time spent on project-related training and duties.

The Youth Advocates took part in a 12-week training programme before going on to meet regularly over a number of months whereby they planned and carried out their own advocacy activities.

The decision to pay Youth Advocates was viewed as important as it was felt that this acknowledged existing power differentials and inequalities between the paid professionals involved in the project and the Youth Advocates. The remuneration was intended to demonstrate that the Youth Advocates’ contributions have real value, which in the adult professional world is often expressed in monetary terms.

We have found in our other research projects, that paying those with lived experience (for example peer supporters and peer mentors) can be an important strategy to demonstrate how organisations value those with lived experience (read more on this in ‘Keeping the informal safe’: Strategies for developing peer support initiatives for young people who have experienced sexual violence).

We wanted the Youth Advocates to have freedom and choice about how to spend their earnings from the project, which they appreciated. Some reported that the remuneration made them feel ‘more important… more like staff’.

One Youth Advocate in Moldova told us that the money she had received through the project enabled her to fulfil a lifelong dream – to acquire passports for herself and her son which would allow her to travel abroad in the future. 

On the contrary, for another Youth Advocate offering a wage elicited an adverse reaction. The young man who had initially agreed to join the project withdrew consent to be involved in certain elements when he learned about the remuneration. Staff later reflected that this may have triggered painful memories of having previously received money in exchange for sex.

This highlights that compensation can be a particularly contentious issue when working in this field and requires careful consideration. 

Read more about the set up of this project in ‘They need to see the people they are affecting by their decision-making’: Developing participatory advocacy with young people on sexual violence in Albania, Moldova and Serbia.

Participatory projects and activities must be planned with children and young people’s safety and wellbeing at the centre.

In addition to (and as part of) managing risks, adults involved in this work need to ensure that appropriate support mechanisms are in place throughout the process.

Feeling safe and supported can help children and young people have a good experience and also increase the likelihood of positive outcomes for them. This might include increased confidence and self-esteem, or learning new knowledge or a new skill.    

Key values that can support safe engagement and positive outcomes include:

  • Clarity about what children and young people’s engagement entails and how they will be supported
  • Maximising children and young people’s choice and control in how the project or activity is set up and facilitated
  • Clear and open communication with children and young people and taking the time to properly explain things and manage expectations
  • Being flexible and recognising that everyone is an individual with different experiences, needs and preferences
  • Giving careful thought to the environment in which the project or activity is taking place and creating a space that feels physically and emotionally safe
  • Ensuring there is a trusted adult/worker on hand that the child or young person can avail of if they require support at any point
  • Providing feedback to children and young people on how their participation has helped.

Participatory projects or activities that aim to bring together a group of children and young people who have experienced sexual violence, can understandably give rise to concerns. Adults can be reluctant to engage in this work, feeling concerned about a child or young person’s ‘readiness’ to take part and/or whether group work might expose them to additional risks or re-traumatise them. These are valid concerns. Yet, it is our experience that working in groups with children and young people who have experienced sexual violence can be both safe and beneficial if appropriately planned and supported.

In planning this work, a good starting point is to consider how work can be planned so that it meets the six trauma-informed principles and nine basic requirements of participation (see section 1: why participatory approaches for more information on these).

See the planning tool - Template: How can we enact trauma-informed principles in our project?

Related Resources

Template: Memorandum of Expectations. This template can be used to set out expectations between research partners and facilitating organisations when seeking to engage children and young people in participatory projects.

Those wishing to use this template should reflect on how suitable it may be for their own project and context and make the necessary adaptations. 

Template: How can we enact trauma-informed principles in our project? This template can be used when planning your participatory project. It asks you as a team to consier what you can do to acknowledge and respond to potential impacts related to experiencing childhood sexual violence and how you can promote trauma-informed principles in your project.