Why help? Understanding the role of children and young people in preventing sexual violence as bystanders in England.

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Sexual violence against children has profound long-termconsequences on children and young people (UK Government,2015). Children may be victims, perpetrators or bystanders tosexual violence, sometimes even concurrently (Hoefnagels &Zwikker, 2001). Through a qualitative and participatoryresearch design involving comic-based vignettes, this study willseek to develop a new framework for understanding thebarriers and facilitators that influence whether and how youngpeople (14-17 years old) in England may prevent sexualviolence against children as bystanders. Barriers andfacilitators to bystander action of young people vary dependingon the relationship of the bystander to the offender and thevictim. This study will address gaps in the literature onbystander intervention by extending the application of themodel to sexual violence against children, an issue which hasbeen understudied thus far (NSPCC, 2015). Notably, childrenare the most common bystanders of child abuse yet they arerarely involved in research about it (Hoefnagels & Zwikker,2001). Thus, the study will advance knowledge on recognisingyoung people's agency related to sexual violence preventioninterventions and research. In this, the project criticallychallenges the dominant discourse on young people's passivevictimisation. Finally, the study aims to contribute appliedacademic policy and practice relevant insights onunderstanding young people's roles related to the prevention ofsexual violence against children through the perspective ofyoung people themselves.