THE PROJECT

About The Project

 

Teens are more likely to experience sexual assault than any other age group. 

If you have experienced sexual assault it can have a big impact on your life.

Sexual assault can cause physical injury but is also associated with an increased risk of a range of (sexual) health, mental health, emotional and social problems. This is why it is really important teenagers receive professional care as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, many teens don't receive help from support services. The reasons for this are not very clear, which is why this project intends to answer the following research question:

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How can sexual assault support services be improved for teenagers who have experienced sexual assault?

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I would like to speak to teens who are 13 to 19 years old, have experienced sexual assault and live in the Birmingham area. It does not matter how old you were when you experienced the sexual assault or how long ago this was. I’m interested in your experiences and how you understand them.

 

What would I have to do if I decide to take part?
If you decide to take part in this research, I will arrange a time to meet with you so I can ask you some questions about your experiences. This should take about 1 hour, but we can split our meeting up into smaller chunks if this feels too long. We can meet wherever you feel most comfortable (your house, Umbrella, BCU etc.) as long as we can talk privately. It is important you know I won’t be asking you questions about the sexual assault itself, but about what happened after. At the end of our meeting I will ask if you would like to meet again together with a few other participants to talk about the results of the research study and hear your opinions about them. This is called a focus group and it is optional of course. If you prefer we can stick to just one meeting.

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This research has been checked by a group of people at Birmingham City University called a Research Ethics Committee. They have decided that this research is necessary, fair and safe.  The NHS Health Research Authority has also reviewed and approved this research.