Launch of first living dashboard on solutions to prevent childhood sexual violence

A team of researchers led by Dr Bridget Steele and Dr Amiya Bhatia at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) and Safe Futures Hub have launched the child protection field’s first living systematic review of evidence on preventing childhood sexual violence. 

Presented through an interactive dashboard, the review brings together peer-reviewed evaluations published since 2018 of interventions, laws and policies designed to prevent childhood sexual violence and perpetration. 

An estimated 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 7 boys experience sexual violence in childhood (Source: Nature Magazine). Ensuring practitioners, policymakers, funders and researchers can identify and use the latest evidence on effective prevention is therefore critical. 

Unlike a traditional systematic review, which provides a snapshot of the evidence at a single point in time, a living systematic review is continually updated as new research becomes available. This approach enables the evidence base to grow and evolve as new research becomes available. 

‘As the evidence base in this field rapidly expands, there is an urgent need for research infrastructure that can systematically search for, appraise, and synthesise new research to ensure prevention remains evidence-based and inclusive,’ said Dr Bridget Steele, Departmental Lecturer in Evidence-Based Intervention and Policy Evaluation at DSPI.  

‘Our living review approach provides a mechanism for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to access up-to-date evidence on the effectiveness of interventions, laws, and policies to prevent childhood sexual violence victimisation and perpetration.’ 

Commenting on the dashboard, Nicolas Makharashvili, Director of the Safe Futures Hub said: ‘This living systematic review puts the evidence at people’s fingertips: quick to navigate, easy to use, and designed to be updated as the evidence evolves. It gives practitioners, policymakers and funders a clearer picture of where the evidence is strong, where gaps remain, and where we need to invest next to prevent sexual violence against children at scale.’

About the dashboard

The interactive dashboard enables researchers, practitioners and others working in the field to explore evidence on interventions, laws and policies by country, age group, setting, and childhood sexual violence outcome including perpetration and victimisation. Importantly the review includes evaluations of prevention efforts that found to have no effect, as well as evaluations associated with increased reports of childhood sexual violence victimisation and perpetration. 

Safe Futures Hub is a joint field-building initiative of Together for Girls, WeProtect Global Alliance, and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). The initiative focuses on solutions informed by data, evidence, practitioner knowledge, lived experience, and community-led approaches to ending sexual violence against children.