We must change the record of youth exclusion at the highest levels of decision-making. The first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children set itself to include youth in its agenda and political declaration.
Now, we must ensure that youth voices, expertise, and solutions are heard in keeping governments accountable for their pledges.
Becoming a youth activist
We must change the record of youth exclusion at the highest levels of decision-making. The first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children set itself to include youth in its agenda and political declaration. Now, we must ensure that youth voices, expertise, and solutions are heard in keeping governments accountable for their pledges.
I initially became interested in combating violence against youth while working as part of the youth-led nonprofit Girl Up, hosted by the UN Foundation. Initially, my focus was on leading a seminar against domestic violence and drives for local women’s shelters.
As I interacted with girls who had experienced violence, I was inspired to focus on raising awareness of youth and community violence – especially the way it disproportionately impacts women and people of color.
Later on, while I worked as a peer educator on sexual health and reproductive rights for the Young Women’s Project, I was shocked by the amount of youth who had experienced some form of violence and the stigma they felt around sharing their experience.
It became clear to me that there was a gap in resources allocated to help youth overcome these experiences. I wanted to help provide those resources and elevate their voices and ideas within conversations on how to prevent and address violence against young people.
Community-based strategies: supporting youth leadership in preventing gender-based violence
Community-based strategies – which may include education, violence interruption programs, and targeting risk factors like poverty – have the power to challenge stereotypes. Debunking ideas that men should be aggressive, as well as cultural norms like victim-blaming, can help make violence less normalized.
Additionally, by providing channels for victim-survivors to come forward about the violence they have experienced, we can both limit people’s propensity to perpetuate violence and hold perpetrators accountable.
Community-based strategies even target people outside of perpetrators or victim-survivors. In all the places violence can occur–streets, households, classrooms – there are often witnesses. This is where bystander intervention programs, which can make witnesses more likely to speak up about violence, can help.
People within a community are the ones who have the option to either passively allow violence to occur in their communities or fight against it, so they are the ones who we should educate and support. I’ve seen that youth empowerment, in particular, can be a very effective community-based strategy.
As a peer educator on sexual and reproductive health and resources, I received a message from another young person whose sister had been sexually assaulted and needed help. Providing her with the resources she needed opened my eyes to the power of peer-focused advocacy; it made me realize that people may be more likely to reach out to other youth they know than to adults.
When we are empowered by being given resources to destigmatize sexual health for others, we are able to empower other youth to feel comfortable enough to reach out. I have found that community-based strategies can cause a ripple effect – when youth are empowered, we can use this knowledge, network, and resources to help our communities.
Advocating to end violence against youth at the global level
Community-based efforts allow us to come together in solidarity around preventing youth and gender-based violence. The first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children provided a unique opportunity to energize the child and youth protection field and bring everyone together to keep children and youth safe.
Numerous Member States’ pledges were focused on areas that directly impact youth: online safety, safe school environments, and harmful norms, for example. For that reason, youth must be involved in the implementation of these pledges and in ensuring governments are kept accountable for their promises.
This means incorporating youth voices and giving young people a platform to speak about their experiences and issues they have witnessed firsthand in their communities. Youth are often not given the opportunity to make our experiences known to the world, and this silence is where violence can persist.
Amplifying youth voices goes beyond simply hearing our ideas–youth should be able to lead the initiatives and legislation to prevent and address violence our communities. With inter-generational collaboration at gatherings like the Global Ministerial and efforts to keep governments accountable for their pledges, we can move in the right direction.
Youth have the power to create a world free of violence
Being an advocate does not mean doing something on a large scale. It can be something as small as being someone people can talk to when they need help, or being a watchdog against violence. Everyone can and should be an advocate in their communities.
Including youth and youth advocates in conversations and policy decisions to prevent community violence and violence against youth can be crucial to creating safer communities for children, youth, and everyone else.
Our experiences of violence in everyday life make us a key resource to understand the problem of violence against youth. I hope that we are given the opportunity to also be part of the solution.
Elsa B. is a high school student and youth advocate in Washington, DC, USA. We have not included her photo and last name to protect her identity.