Contextual Safeguarding Across Borders was a two-year project (2021-2023) exploring the applicability and feasibility of Contextual Safeguarding in international contexts, specifically in situations of structural, historical, and contemporary inequalities. The project aimed to:
- Understand the relevance and usefulness of Contextual Safeguarding in developing and supporting statutory and non-statutory responses to extra-familial forms of harm
- Explore how knowledge and expertise from international settings transforms, troubles or improves how Contextual Safeguarding is understood and/or practiced
- Consider whether Contextual Safeguarding can support the development of child protection responses that acknowledge and address the relationship between structural inequalities and extra-familial forms of harm
Specifically, the study explored the feasibility of Contextual Safeguarding as an approach to support safeguarding responses to refugee young people in Europe (strand A) and 'street connected young people' affected by extra-familial harm in Tanzania (strand B).
We partnered with two international NGOs: The International Rescue Committee in Germany, supporting refugee young people, and Railway Children Africa, supporting street-connected young people in Tanzania.
This work drew on embedded and co-production methodologies used in other projects in the Contextual Safeguarding programme concerned with testing contextual interventions and designing structures to sustain/support those interventions.
The following resources produced from the study share how we tested Contextual Safeguarding activities with our partners and what we learnt about how Contextual Safeguarding might be applicable and relevant beyond the UK, and about some of the universal the conditions required to implement the Contextual Safeguarding framework.
Principal investigator: Prof Carlene Firmin
Co-investigator: Dr Lauren Wroe
Research Assistants: Delphine Peace, Vanessa Bradbury
Research Consultant: Dr Nathalie Huegler
Funder: Porticus
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CSAB International FindingsThis briefing shares international project findings from the Contextual Safeguarding Across Borders study. -
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CS with refugee young peopleThis case study shares how our partner NGO, the International Rescue Committee, used Contextual Safeguarding with refugee young people in Germany. -
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CS with street-connected young peopleThis case study shares how our partner NGO, Railway Children Africa, used Contextual Safeguarding with street-connected young people in Tanzania. -
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The role of NGOs within CSThis document provides a summary of what we have learnt from our international partnerships about the role that NGOs can play within Contextual Safeguarding. -
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Safety mapping with refugee girls* in GermanyMascha Breuer from The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Germany explains how she did a safety mapping activity to talk about safety in the community with a group of refugee girls*. -
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Piloting Contextual Safeguarding Across BordersDr Nathalie Huegler shares insights from piloting Contextual Safeguarding with the International Rescue Committee to support their work with refugee girls* in Germany. -
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Safeguarding asylum-seeking adolescents from extra-familial harmIn this blog post Delphine Peace and Lauren Wroe discuss the findings from their scoping report on extra-familial harm and refugee young people in Europe. -
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CSAB Year 1 Scoping ReportThis briefing shares findings of a scoping review into the nature and response to extra-familial harm in adolescence in Europe. -
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CSAB Year One Scoping Report: AnnexThis annex outlines the methods and search strategy used to inform the CSAB Year One Scoping Report.
