Disability Inclusion in Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence Programs

Women's Refugee Commission
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TOOL 7: PARTICIPATORY ACTIVITIES WITH CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES

Purpose of the tool

Children with disabilities face a range of barriers when participating in PSS activities. This tool provides a description of the steps to a participatory activity with children with and without disabilities, which seeks to identify barriers to access and inclusion in PSS activities and their ideas to address these barriers. The process of identifying barriers to access and inclusion for children with disabilities can be undertaken when consulting with the wider community about the design of a PSS program, or throughout the delivery of PSS activities to identify ways to adapt activities already running. The participatory activity described in this tool is designed to provide different options for participation and/or communication on protection concerns, and to foster protective peer networking and agency among children with and without disabilities in the community.

Composition of groups

These activities are designed for children and youth over the age of 6 years. Each group should have 8–12 children, half of which are children with disabilities. We recommend separating boys and girls, and perhaps children and younger adolescents, from older adolescents and youth. For example:

Some children and youth with disabilities may attend with siblings or other relatives without disabilities. These individuals should be kept in the same group regardless of age, but ideally, they should be of the same gender, so that girls and boys will feel more comfortable in discussing their specific concerns.

Timing of activities

It is recommended that you conduct the activities with both girl groups (Groups 1 & 2) concurrently, and with both boy groups (Groups 3 & 4) concurrently. This will provide space and opportunity to explore the gender-related concerns of children of different ages, for younger people to share their perspectives with older people, and to foster opportunities for peer mentoring of children by the youth in the community.

The activities should be split across two separate days. This will provide time for the groups to document things at different times of the day, for the printing of photos taken by the children to use in discussions, and for further planning of presentations and contributions to a Community Workshop.

The following is an example schedule, which should be adapted according to your context and program:

Day 1 — Agenda (2 hours)

Day 2 — Agenda (2 hours)

Facilitation

Ideally, activities with girls should be facilitated by women (this includes the people facilitating and note-taking) and activities with boys should be facilitated by men. In accordance with child protection minimum standards, there should be two people for each small group: one to supervise and assist children who may decide to withdraw from the activity at any point, and one person to observe and take notes.

INTRODUCING GROUP ACTIVITIES

Activity 3: Introduce the “Communication Toolbox”

There are lots of ways to contribute to this discussion, and for children and young people to document or record their concerns and ideas. Let the participants decide what the best way is for the different people in the group. Introduce the activities in the Communication Toolbox that they can use. These include:

Drawing and artwork — Groups can make a poster using pens, paper and other materials. Include stickers of different shapes and textures, and/or tactile paint, so that children with vision impairments can recognize different parts of the poster.

The picture library — Images and photographs can be used to facilitate discussion. They can also be sorted into different groups under signs that you place on the wall. These signs can include symbols and facial expressions representing things that participants like/do not like, or feel safe/unsafe.

The sound library — A collection of short audio recordings of local sounds and interactions between people. They can listen to these recordings and pick those which they would like to use for the discussion.

Photography — The group can borrow a camera and take photos that will help them to share the concerns of girls, boys, young women and young men with disabilities. They can take pictures of things that they like/do not like or feel safe/unsafe. They can also take pictures of people that they trust and know that can help.

A guided tour — The group can also walk around the community and your child friendly space documenting the things that they like/do not like, and the things that prevent or help their access to PSS activities. They can also take their own photos as they move around the community or child friendly space to help explain this.

Story in a bag — Give the children and youth a bag with familiar objects in it that they can use to tell a story. These should be everyday objects, like a drinking cup, a toy or ball, or a pen and a book. These objects can represent different places and/or activities that children like or do not like in the community and can help them to communicate about the topic. Children can also add their own objects to the bag.

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Table: Using tools with children with different types of impairments 1

Tool Physical impairment Blindness and low vision Deaf and hearing impairment Intellectual impairment Comments
Drawing and artwork

✗ Not suitable for children who are blind.

✓ May suit some children with low vision.

Tactile paint and colorful stickers may help children with low vision to navigate a visual map.
The picture library

✗ Not suitable for children who are blind.

✓ May suit some children with low vision.

This is especially useful with children with hearing disabilities, as well as those with intellectual disabilities.
The sound library

✗ Not suitable for children who are Deaf

✓ May suit some children who are hard of hearing, if

This is particularly useful with children who are blind. They may also want to record their own voices and reflections on places where they feel safe/unsafe.
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used with a headset.
Photography

✗ Not suitable for children who are blind.

✓ May suit some children with low vision, as photographs can be easily enlarged.

Photography is a great way to capture the lived experiences of children with disabilities, both at home and in the public sphere. It may not be immediately apparent why a child has taken a certain photograph. Explore this by looking for themes across photos, and asking questions of peers and siblings.
A guided tour ✓ Length of tour should be adapted to capacity of those in the group. All children have a right to move around their community. Even those who require assistance can be included in this activity, as it will highlight the interaction of individual, relationship and community level factors that affect their access and inclusion.
Story in a bag This is especially useful with children with more profound communication difficulties and for those with vision impairments who can use objects that they can feel to document their own experiences.

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Prompting questions for discussion both during and after activities should include:

Notes

1 Adapted from: Elena Jenkin et al, Inclusive practice for research with children with disability: A guide(Melbourne. Deakin University, 2015). http://www.voicesofchildrenwithdisability.com/