Step Up, Speak Out: Co-producing knowledge with young people on addressing sexual violence through collaborative, participatory approaches [dataset]

In recent years, there has been intensified concern about addressing sexual violence against children. Global and national reports in the UK highlighted its massive scale and profound negative impacts on children and young people. However, the exclusion of young people’s views is concerning amidst the increasing recognition of the distinct value of their perspectives in improving understanding of sexual violence and co-designing responsive prevention interventions. Drawing on the concept of participation as protection, my study aimed to understand young people’s views on sexual violence and their role in its prevention. Adopting a collaborative, participatory research design of 18 iterative participatory and creative workshops, I worked with 26 young people (13-18 y.o) from a further education institution and a youth club in Northeast England. Three core components underpinned my participatory approach: Leading (shared decision-making), Listening (sustained relationship-building), and Learning (co-producing knowledge collaboratively). My study offered a young people-centred understanding of sexual violence by discussing different dimensions, such as naming behaviour and impact, defining sexual violence, and communicating about sexual violence. My findings on the dual signalling function of discomfort contribute to sexual violence prevention by demonstrating the interconnectedness of individual (identifying behaviour as ‘wrong’ through affective signals), relational (adults and peers providing sensitive and validating responses), and institutional (cultural change in schools to challenge shame, blame, and disbelief) factors in prevention and responses to sexual violence. My study platformed young people’s voices on enhancing schools’ responses to sexual violence, framed by justice interests of validation, fairness, voice, and support. My study demonstrated how the collaborative, participatory approach shaped the co-production of knowledge with the young people that challenged adult-centric constructs that have dominated research, policy, and practice. The findings have implications for policy and practice. These include developing young people’s confidence to raise concerns about their diverse experiences related to sexual violence and building the capacity of adults to respond sensitively and establish ongoing relationships of trust and care. My study consistently argued that young people have a crucial role in sexual violence prevention. Thus, we need proactive and sustained efforts to facilitate their participation and recognise them as partners in prevention.