Young Researchers’ Advisory Panel
Inspiring young people to participate and make a difference
A member of the Young Researchers’ Advisory Panel describes joining the panel in 2016 and the value of young people shaping the research agenda.
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Participation
Youth Participation in Research
Articles and reports on how young people are involved in preventing sexual violence, shaping safeguarding practice and speaking about their own experiences.
This section of the blog gathers work in which children and young people take an active part in research and knowledge-building on child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking. It includes voices from the Young Researchers’ Advisory Panel (YRAP), established in 2016, reflections from young filmmakers and students on safeguarding, and accounts of consultations carried out with youth advisors across Europe.
Featured articles
Participation
Young people addressing sexual violence in Europe
In the summer of 2014 the ‘Our Voices’ team at the International Centre partnered with projects across Europe to run a series of consultations with ‘Youth Advisors’ across Albania, Bulgaria and the UK. Forty-seven young people, aged 11 to 25, took part in these consultations.
The sessions looked at how to prevent sexual violence, and at the barriers young people face in understanding it and in seeking support.
Meaningful participation means giving children and young people a genuine role in research about child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking, rather than treating them only as subjects of study. Young people bring lived experience, sharp observation and fresh ideas that adult researchers often overlook. Their involvement can shape questions, methods and findings, helping ensure evidence reflects the realities of childhood and adolescence. This international centre's work builds partnerships with universities, practitioners and community organisations so that participation is supported, resourced and ethically handled, with safeguarding and consent built in from the outset.
The Young Researchers' Advisory Panel brings together young people who advise on ongoing projects, offering guidance on language, recruitment and dissemination. Panel members have contributed to conference programmes and shared their perspectives with researchers, practitioners and policy audiences. Being heard in this way also benefits the young people themselves: it builds confidence, develops transferable skills and creates routes into further education and employment. The blog documents these contributions and reflects on what works when adults genuinely listen, adapt decisions and act on the recommendations received.
Participation also takes creative and practical forms, from young filmmakers producing material on safeguarding to students and community groups taking part in consultation exercises and curriculum development. Reflective pieces in this section explore the challenges of involving children in sensitive research, including power imbalances, consent and the responsibility of adults to protect confidentiality. Alongside these accounts, the centre publishes findings and methodology notes on participatory approaches, supporting evidence-informed practice that is child-centred, contextual and rooted in the communities where violence and exploitation occur.
Voices from young researchers
Young filmmakers and students
Reflections from young people on safeguarding
Young filmmakers and students reflect on what safeguarding should look like in practice, and on what they need from adults when something has happened.
Consultations
Youth advisors across Europe
The consultations documented how 47 young people aged 11 to 25 in Albania, Bulgaria and the UK thought about preventing sexual violence and about the difficulties they encounter in seeking support.
Related reading
Elsewhere on this blog
- Children’s views on police safeguarding — a 2015 study in which 45 children and young people across England shared their experiences of police safeguarding practices.
- Safeguarding boys from exploitation — a student presenter’s account of the exploitation of boys and young men and the gaps in professional response.
- Collaborative partnerships — university networks and projects working together to challenge sexual violence.
- General updates and newsletters — announcements from the International Centre, including the spring 2017 newsletter that introduced the Young Researchers’ Advisory Panel.
| Item | Year | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Our Voices consultations | 2014 | 47 youth advisors aged 11 to 25 in Albania, Bulgaria and the UK |
| Young Researchers’ Advisory Panel | 2016 | Young researchers shaping the Centre’s work |
| Children’s views on police safeguarding | 2015 | 45 children and young people across England |
About the International Centre
The International Centre at the University of Bedfordshire is committed to increasing understanding of, and improving responses to, child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking in local, national and international contexts, through academic rigour, collaborative and partnership-based applied research, and meaningful and ethical engagement of children and young people.