The opinions of children on abuse and violence as well as safety are expressed freely here. The child-centred approach has been the guiding principle in the development of this web-site. Children were invited to express their vision, ideas, concerns, attitudes and feelings on violence and neglect which enabled them to exercise their fundamental right to participate.
Interactive work sessions were held with children between 10 and 18 years old inBulgaria, theUnited Kingdomand The Netherlands. All children were given information about the aims of the project. Their consent was a precondition for participation.
Children in residential care and in school and college took part in small group workshops. Children who had experienced violence contributed through individual sessions.
The facilitators in all countries used similar exercises through which children can show what violence means to them, what a child needs to feel safe and what a child expects from adults. Amongst others, the following exercises were used:
- drawing of word webs on associations with violence;
- drawing of a safety shield through which children show what their personal protective shield would look like;
- finishing of sentences; and
- drawing stories on violence.
The work of the children in all three countries has been collected and a selection is anonymously presented on this web-site.
