Best practice for parent-focused child sexual abuse prevention education in early childhood
Commissioned research
Creating safer futures: raising public awareness of child sexual abuse among young adults through digital storytelling
- Children & young people
- Community awareness
- Prevention
Project Length
24 months
Project Budget
$241,090
Funding Stream
Research
Project Lead
- Associate Professor Katie Wright, La Trobe University
Project Team
- Sari Braithwaite, La Trobe University
- Emeritus Professor Valerie Braithwaite, Australian National University
- Dr Danny Taggart, University of Essex
- Emeritus Professor Shurlee Swain, Australian Catholic University
Background and Aim
This project investigates how people can be encouraged to engage with difficult topics when the urge is to turn away. This will identify a new approach to raising awareness among young adults about child sexual abuse by creating a storytelling prototype suited to the digital media age. A key objective is to find novel ways of having difficult conversations about child sexual abuse as a preventative strategy, a tool of de-stigmatisation, and as a way of supporting victims and survivors and recognising their valuable contributions to child safety. This project brings together advocates, academics from sociology, history and psychology, and specialists from the creative industries.
Methods
This project employs an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods and participatory research design. It includes a survey with survivor advocates, a workshop to design a digital storytelling prototype, and a survey with tertiary education students to measure engagement and evaluate the impact of the storytelling tool.
Significance
This project will generate new knowledge about raising awareness of child sexual abuse in ways that are victim-centred, trauma-informed, strength-based and collaborative. A fact sheet aimed at researchers and the creative industries will be developed to provide guidance on working ethically and sensitively with victim and survivors.
Latest research outcomes
Voices for Change website
Showcases survivor-informed resources, digital stories and project findings designed to increase public awareness of child sexual abuse
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Creating Safer Futures digital story
Uses digital storytelling to explore how safe conversations and survivor voices can help challenge stigma and increase public understanding of child sexual abuse
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Engaging with victims and survivors and talking about child sexual abuse fact sheet
Guidance for academic research and creative arts projects on engaging ethically, safely and collaboratively with victim-survivors when discussing child sexual abuse
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