Citation

Mitchell M, Lundy L, Hill L. Child Abuse Rev. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/car.2820

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The relationship between children's human rights to protection and to what iscommonly referred to as'participation' has received significant attention, with many scholars critiquing the purported tension between the two approachesand demonstrating how child participation should be a core feature of childprotection. Less attention has been paid to the converse and, we argue, essential precursor of participatory protection practice-the significance of the child's right to be protected from harm as a means to ensuring successful child participation. Drawing on the example of the multidisciplinary Barnahusmodel, this article explores the multifaceted relationship between participationand protection, suggesting that there needs to be greater acknowledgement ofthe role of collective child participation in delivering the conditions where individual children who have witnessed or experienced violence feel and are safe to express themselves.

KEYWORDS Barnahus, child participation, child protection, children's human rightsKey

Practitioner Messages•Children's right to be heard in decision-making is a right of individual chil-dren and a right of groups of children.•To ensure meaningful child participation in child protection processes, it isimportant to make sure that children feel and are safe to speak.•Creating a safe environment for child participation should involve workingwith children who have experience of child protection as a group to designprovision and services

Language: en