With great enthusiasm 50 high school children in Bulgaria, from Sofia and the town of Aitos, have begun their 2 year research into how their peers define “healthy relationships”. ICDI firmly believes that to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation, young people must be empowered with essential life skills for the cultivation of healthy relationships.
Adolescents tend to share their ideas about and experiences of (sexual) relationships within well insulated peer groups. However, children are rarely seen as ‘experts’ on their own life circumstances, and so their input is seldom sought for the development of effective interventions.
Even before they received their research training, they designed a poster announcing the research and have let their schoolmates know that they are coming with their questions.
During 2 training sessions in 2 schools in the capital Sofia, the children learned how to do research and already have designed the first surveys, which will trial tested over the summer and fully administered after the holidays.
We congratulate them on their work and wish them good luck in collecting the data! Click here to read more about this project.
