How engaging kids can help to get data on child violence

Because everyone was once a child, and many still hold them close, people often assume they know about children’s experiences, according to Alana Kapell, Senior Adviser on Child Participation at Save The Children.

“And it’s just not true,” she said. “We have insights that are valuable but until you actually speak to young people you don’t actually understand the intricacies of their lives and lived experiences.” Gathering data and evidence on violence against children is a challenging field, but vital for understanding the issue, driving advocacy and crafting effective policy responses.

One answer is to engage children in data collection — this can be done across the research process, from designing the questions, to collecting data, informing analysis or influencing the dissemination of results. Doing this leads to greatly improved data that provides a fuller picture of situations for youngsters, according to child participation experts. Not doing it could exclude vital evidence.

As close as possible

The idea “is to get as close as possible to young people’s lived experiences,” said Dr Cath Larkins, Director of the Centre for Children and Young People’s Participation at the University of Central Lancashire.

The views of research participation experts differ on the extent to which children should be engaged — and context is key — but are united by their belief in the right of children to be heard.

“Child participation isn’t about children getting their way, which is often the fear adults have, but it’s a dialogue,” said Kapell.

“It’s really about a respectful relationship and communication between adults and children, so everyone’s voice is heard well.”

But conducting participatory research comes with its own set of considerations and challenges, alongside the myriad difficulties associated with researching violence against children.

“In South Africa, what is considered extreme violence in the Global North is commonplace”

For Larkins, who has worked extensively with children experiencing violence in Wales, UK, and in Europe, a key challenge is that researchers require adult consent to conduct research with youngsters.

“People who tend to say ‘yes’ tend to be in institutions where violence isn’t happening as much, which limits access to the most exposed populations,” she said.

In developing country contexts, research challenges are more complex. “In South Africa, what is considered extreme violence in the Global North is commonplace,” said Lucy Jamieson, senior researcher at the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town.

This widespread prevalence of violence means many research tools are unsuitable for the context: If the Adversity in Childhood Scale (ACE), which measures abuse and neglect, was applied to children in Soweto, over half would score highly or “be off the scale,” according to Jamieson. Less is known about the complex types of trauma suffered by children in these contexts, she added.

The weak, resource-poor systems characteristic of many developing countries also hinder efforts to monitor the most vulnerable children.

Issues such as sexual violence may also be considered a taboo conversation topic, making it even more difficult to obtain accurate data.

Foreseeing problems

But working with children to help design a research process can also help avoid some of the pitfalls of collecting data in this challenging field.

Jamieson recalled a project where a seven-page consent form, due to be used in field research, was dropped after consulting with youngsters.

“The kids said: ‘don’t be stupid, you can’t use this in the field, the young people won’t understand it’,” said Jamieson.

Instead, the youngsters worked with researchers to create videos and a checklist which was suitable for the target community, where illiteracy was high.

“They completely redesigned the tools we were using,” said Jamieson. “And they worked.”

Using innovative research methods, as well as engaging youngsters, can also elicit completely unexpected results. In Ghana, a survey conducted by mobile phone revealed the previously unknown extent of sexual abuse against boys in schools.

Thousands of youngsters across the country responded anonymously, which helped provide the findings in a cost- and time-effective way, according to Dorcas Coker-Appiah, Chief Executive of Accra’s Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre.

“It’s never worth retraumatising a child, but some find it beneficial to have their stories heard”

Participants were also given access to a hotline through which they could seek support or report an offence.

The findings meant the Gender Centre were able to recalibrate their community-based work to include a focus on sexual violence against boys.

Demonstrating how youngsters can be engaged in later phases of research, participants were also able to record their thoughts on how responses to school-based sexual violence should be improved, which formed part of the survey’s recommendations to policymakers and civil society.

Voluntary and informed

Engaging children in research carries with it a number of inherent challenges. Across contexts and at all levels of participation, experts highlighted the need to provide support for children involved in violence research, and for this to be a key consideration of the planning phase.

In developed countries this may require extra funding and organisation, and can be especially challenging in poorer contexts, where access to counselling or health services may be difficult.

Discussing violence is a sensitive matter. Communication takes longer than with adults and must be carried out by trained staff, and materials may need adapting.

“You have a responsibility as a researcher to attend to body language and pauses in a conversation with a young person you are working with, to be sensitive to any signs of distress and to steer away from anything that might be upsetting,” said Larkins. “It’s never worth retraumatising a child, but some find it beneficial to have their stories heard.”

According to Kapell, there are two key aspects of child participation in research which must be avoided: tokenism and manipulation.
She said voluntary participation and informed consent was key to avoiding the manipulation of children — using them to support adult agendas — along with following research standards.

Researchers must also take into account the local cultural context and considering whether it allowed children to easily refuse an adult’s request, said Kapell.

“Children have to know what they are doing and have the information to be able to genuinely make a voluntary choice about how they contribute and participate,” Jamieson added.

Engaging and informing children's communities is also crucial to overcoming any scepticism about the process.

“Children’s participation takes place within a society and the opportunities for advancing children’s civil rights are dependent on that society’s attitudes and values towards children and their rights,” said Clare Feinstein, Deputy Director of Child Protection at Save the Children.

“There’s a whole community around them in which they live and experience life,” she added. “You need to work with adults to create an enabling environment for children’s participation and to break down the barriers.” — Will Worley

(Picture credit: Unsplash)