Our Voices Too (2016-2020)

This toolkit attempts to capture the International Centre's, and partners', learning about promoting safety and managing risk when undertaking group work to address sexual violence with young people. We consider it a working document and recognise that it will benefit from revision and refinement in the future. However, we are sharing this resource to both document elements of the Our Voices Too project and to support wider learning and feedback on this topic.

This report shares learning from a participatory advocacy project addressing sexual violence with young women in Albania, Moldova and Serbia. The report draws on M&E data collected as part of the project to explore key themes and lessons learnt.

Since 2018 the International Centre has been working on the Our Voices Too Youth Advocacy Project in partnership with three national NGOs in Europe: Different & Equal in Albania; the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) in Moldova and ATINA in Serbia. Each organisation has worked with Youth Advocates who have designed, organised and facilitated a number of advocacy activities.

As the Our Voices Too Youth Advocacy Project is now wrapping up, we wanted to share with you some of the fantastic resources that were developed by the Youth Advocates involved in this project.

This infographic illustrates in numbers the activities Youth Advocates were involved in as part of the Our Voices Too Youth Advocacy Project.

The 'Our Voices Too' project is coordinated by ‘The International Centre, researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking’ (IC) at the University of Bedfordshire in the UK and funded by the Oak Foundation.

As part of the ‘Our Voices Too’ project, the IC is working in partnership with three national NGOs in Europe: Different & Equal in Albania; the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) in Moldova and ATINA in Serbia. Each organisation is implementing participatory advocacy activities in their respective countries with young people affected by sexual violence.  In this blog all five Youth Advocates from Moldova share their reflections and experiences of taking part in the project.

The 'Our Voices Too' project is coordinated by ‘The International Centre, researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking’ (IC) at the University of Bedfordshire in the UK and funded by the Oak Foundation.

As part of the ‘Our Voices Too’ project, the IC is working in partnership with three national NGOs in Europe: Different & Equal in Albania; the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) in Moldova and ATINA in Serbia. Each organisation is implementing participatory advocacy activities in their respective countries with young people affected by sexual violence.  In this blog one of the youth advocates shares her experiences of being involved in the project.

In this episode Silvie Bovarnick from the International Centre at the University of Bedfordshire shares some of the learning from the Our Voices Too Youth Advocacy Project. This episode looks specifically at risks and benefits of involving young people with lived experience in participatory advocacy on sexual violence against children. 14 minutes.

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.

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.

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.

Since 2018 the International Centre: researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking at the University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom has been working in partnership with Different & Equal in Albania; the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) in Moldova and ATINA in Serbia. Facilitators from each organisation have worked together with young people affected by sexual violence who have designed, organised and facilitated a number of advocacy activities addressing this issue in their countries. This blog summarises key learning from the implementation of this project.

This briefing paper, the final of four, is based on exploratory research into peer support for young people who have experienced sexual violence. This briefing paper explores one area of the findings, the risks, tensions and challenges associated with peer support interventions.

This briefing paper, the third of four, is based on exploratory research into peer support for young people who have experienced sexual violence. This briefing paper focusses on one area of the findings related to the value for those: receiving peer based support; giving support and; organisations supporting such initiatives.

This briefing is based on a review of the literature that was carried out in preparation for a scoping study that aimed to learn lessons from those engaged in peer support interventions for young people who had experienced sexual violence.

This briefing paper, the first of four, provides a brief introduction and overview of a research project which aimed to explore peer support for young people affected by sexual violence.

‘Peer support’ is recognised as an important part of a trauma-informed response, so why are we not seeing more opportunities for peer support among young people affected by sexual violence?  This blog looks at some of the challenges and tensions identified in implementing peer support initiatives in this field.

In this podcast Claire Cody from the International Centre at the University of Bedfordshire shares findings from a recent study exploring the value, and challenges, of peer support initiatives for young people affected by sexual violence. 22 minutes.