We are looking for child and young adult (aged 11-25) survivors to help us test a child abuse prevalence survey. 

 We’d especially love people to hear from people in Scotland and boys/men. But, due to time and budget constraints, we can only see people online (over 18s) or near where either my colleague, Anna, or I live (in or close to Edinburgh, and in or close to London and Letchworth). 

Overview of the Project  

Child abuse and neglect (CAN) are recognised by the World Health Organisation as a global problem with potentially serious life-long consequences. Data are key to understanding the prevalence, causes, nature and effects of CAN, yet there is no single data source which measures the current prevalence of child abuse in the UK.   Findings from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) public consultation (January and April 2021) demonstrated a strong user need this data, and the decision was made to move forward with a national prevalence study.   

The Universities of Edinburgh and Greenwich have been commissioned to:  

1. design two questionnaires to capture the current prevalence of child abuse in the UK, for two different age groups: 11 to 16 years and 16 to 25 years.   
2. devise an appropriate safeguarding procedure which successfully contributes to ensuring the participants are safe from significant risk of harm by assessing the current level of risk to the participant and applying the appropriate level of safeguarding.   

The work will be carried out in multiple stages, utilising participatory research (i.e. focus groups, participatory sessions, and interviews) with key groups, and extensive engagement with stakeholders.   

Request for Assistance with Participant Recruitment 

We are asking agencies who support children, adolescents and young adults who have experienced child abuse and neglect (CAN) and other types of violence against children (VAC) to assist us with participant recruitment.   

What the participants will be asked to do: 

Fill out a digital copy of the survey and compete an interview about the experience. Over 18s can be interviewed online. Under 18s will be interviewed face to face.  

What we are looking for children and young people to test-run our survey. Specifically, we are looking for: 

• Children and young people in Scotland  
• Boys/men 
• Over 18s – all over the UK 
• Under 18s – in or close to Edinburgh, and in or close to London and Letchworth. 

We provide participants with a £20 voucher 

Please contact [email protected] if you can help