Young Persons Authentic Voice and Changemakers

Working alongside professionals in the field, Changemakers use their voices to shape national campaigns and co-create services for young people impacted by domestic abuse. This dynamic group empowers young people to actively engage in projects that directly affect their lives and those of their peers. Projects that the Changemakers have been involved with include: combatting harmful and toxic behaviours in early relationships; researching what causes young people to display abusive behaviours; shaping the national RSE curriculum, and redefining young people’s relationship to the police.

The Changemakers are from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. Within the group, everyone is treated equally and only encouraged to share what they are comfortable with. Changemakers are experts in understanding the challenges young people face today. Every young person’s voice is acknowledged, valued and respected.

Together, young people can create significant change and help in the fight to end domestic abuse, for everyone, for good.

What have the Changemakers been working on this past year?

The Changemakers have been involved in many exciting projects, which have sparked lots of enriching and inspiring conversations on the power of young person’s authentic voice.

• Taken part in a consultation by the Department of Education to discuss the RSE curriculum and changes they think need to be made.
• Had training from the British Youth Council on public speaking, confidence building and how to create a campaign.
• Been involved in a discussion on SafeLives’ men and boys research and involved in co-creating a set of recommendations to challenge harmful and masculine behaviour.
•  In 2024, the Changemakers were given another opportunity to join Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace, this time for an intimate roundtable discussion on young person’s authentic voice. The group were able to discuss their views on tackling domestic abuse, healthier relationships and what changes they would like to see.
• Too Soon, Too Late – The Changemakers have been working with the City of London University and the VISION Consortium on a research exploring whether the age of 16 (the age in which a young person is legally recognised as experiencing domestic abuse in their own relationships) is “too late”, given that we know young people can experience domestic abuse earlier than this. This research is exploring whether the age should be lowered to 13 years old, or whether this is “too soon” to legally recognise – and criminalise – abusive behaviour in young people’s relationships. The Changemakers have been co-creating a listening room workshop for a group of young adults aged 18-24 who experienced domestic abuse in their own relationships when they were aged 13-16. The Changemakers co-created the recruitment resources, the schedule for the listening room workshop and co-facilitated the workshop.
• The Changemakers have been working on our Family Voices project – a project whick seeks to embed the voices of families in projects operating within the early help system across local authorities in England. Changemakers have co-created and co-facilitated a webinar, entitled Authentically Engaging Children and Young People, to over 200 professionals.
• Changemakers met with researchers from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s office, who were developing a survey to be distributed to frontline domestic abuse services that provide support to children and young people. Researchers from the DAC’s office consulted with the Changemakers to get their input on developing the survey questions to ensure they were informed by young people.
• The Changemakers took part in a Home Office consultation on child-to-parent abuse (CPA) – aimed to establish a common language around CPA and support identification by frontline professionals, parents and caregivers of this type of abuse, in order to make it easier to seek and offer support. The Changemakers fed into SafeLives’ response where we called for the definition to include ‘parents and caregivers.’

What is SOS?

Sound of Silence (SOS) was a project that ran from September 2020 to September 2023, aimed at giving a voice back to young people who felt silenced. It explored important issues that are often underrepresented or not spoken about enough in society, creating a safe environment where young people could openly discuss their experiences. SOS empowered participants to work on issues they were passionate about, providing them with the platform to advocate for change. The project ensured that every young person involved felt heard and seen, helping to amplify their voices. SafeLives’ Changemakers played a key role in this initiative, engaging actively throughout its duration.

How did Sound of Silence work?

Sound of Silence was split into four topics.

1. Men and boys
2. The RSE Curriculum
3. Young People, the Police and Domestic Abuse
4. Intersectionality and Domestic Abuse

Read the Sounds of Silence report

Other projects the Changemakers have been involved in:

• Changemakers were interviewed by a journalist from BBC radio 1’s Newsbeat about domestic and young people and the education that young people have access to in relation to domestic abuse.
• Changemakers have also been asked to take part in Government consultations, for example the Victims Bill.
• Helped to Recruit a group of new changemakers to join the SOS project, changemakers are from a range of demographics e.g. geographical location and age.
• Asked to sit on the interview panel for young persons’ authentic voice coordinator
• Asked to feed thoughts and opinions into applications for future funding for safe young lives and projects relating to that.
• Asked to attend events to speak to potential investors and organisations that SafeLives works closely with.