Young Bulgarian researchers become young advocates and present their policy brief advocating for better, comprehensive sexuality education and measures to combat sexual violence.
From 2016 to 2019, ICDI and the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) co-implemented a youth participatory research project named Adolescents’ Perceptions of Healthy Relationships, which aimed to hear young people’s perspectives on relationships, as they are the experts on their own lives.
In Bulgaria, together with local organization Animus Association, we supported young people to participate in every step of the research process, from designing quantitative and qualitative tools to data collection to analysis, dissemination and advocacy. Young researchers investigated their peers’ ideas and opinions on and experiences with (sexual) relationships. A group of around 40 Youth Peer Researchers (YPRs) designed research questions and surveys themselves, and conducted both a quantitative and qualitative research among around 1300 of their peers.
After completion of the research and receiving their certificates we are happy to share with you a policy brief that the young researchers developed. This policy brief will be used as a base for the final part of the project, in which the researchers have become young advocates, urging for a more open debate and education on sexuality and more space for young people’s participation in matters that concern them.
This project has been made possible by support from the OAK foundation.
