Violence and abuse must be stopped.
18U is dedicated to ending the abuse of children and violence in all its forms. abuse and violence ruins lives and we believe that everyone has the right to live in a world that is safe.
From its earliest days prevention of abuse and reduction of trauma have been a key objective of 18u. In 1996, 18u in partnership with local communities, rape crisis centres, social services, health, police and education department began developing and evaluating abuse prevention programmes. Whole communities were involved in the early development of a wide range of resources and most importantly piloting, testing and evaluating their effectiveness. This work has won acclaim and numerous awards both at a national and international level.
The Violence Is Preventable (V.I.P.) Programme has been accepted as participants in the World Health Organisation’s Violence Prevention Alliance. The programmes consist of a wide range of prevention programmes developed in the community for use with parents, children, young people of all ages and stages of development and vulnerable adults. It consists of a range of resources, developed over many years. It includes songs, short films, activities, games, worksheets, resource packs, quizzes, storybooks, and puzzles designed to engage with children to make learning about complex issues of violence and abuse both fun and achievable.
The programmes tackle all forms of violence and abuse including sexual, domestic, and interpersonal violence, racism, homophobia, bullying, sectarianism, sexism and gender issues. It seeks to challenge and change attitudes, which lead to violence and encourage children to make early disclosures of violence and abuse so it can be identified and dealt with sooner. A major research evaluation was carried out by Professor Ian Barron and results showed the programme to be highly effective in raising children’s awareness of safety and during the research evaluation 33% of the children who received the programme made disclosures of violence and abuse. All disclosures were later verified as valid.
The Violence Is Preventable (V.I.P.) Programme has been accepted as participants in the World Health Organisation’s Violence Prevention Alliance. The programmes consist of a wide range of prevention programmes developed in the community for use with parents, children, young people of all ages and stages of development and vulnerable adults. It consists of a range of resources, developed over many years. It includes songs, short films, activities, games, worksheets, resource packs, quizzes, storybooks, and puzzles designed to engage with children to make learning about complex issues of violence and abuse both fun and achievable.
The programmes tackle all forms of violence and abuse including sexual, domestic, and interpersonal violence, racism, homophobia, bullying, sectarianism, sexism and gender issues. It seeks to challenge and change attitudes, which lead to violence and encourage children to make early disclosures of violence and abuse so it can be identified and dealt with sooner. A major research evaluation was carried out by Professor Ian Barron and results showed the programme to be highly effective in raising children’s awareness of safety and during the research evaluation 33% of the children who received the programme made disclosures of violence and abuse. All disclosures were later verified as valid.
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Resources that you can useWe have a wide range of resources suitable for all ages.
Our resources consist of books games and video clips and are designed to be flexible and accessible. The resources have been continuously developed over the last 25 years by Eighteen And Under along with various partners including police, fire service, local authorities, education departments, schools and universities. Please check out our online shop here |
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workshops for young people and childrenIf you are near us we may be able to offer free delivery of our evidence based programme in your school or setting.
The independent research carried out on V.I.P showed that anyone can use the resources effectively to increase personal safety - but the biggest benefits were seen when it was delivered by those with programme specific training in violence and abuse prevention. This is due to the 'prevention mindset' our accredited workers have and the advantage of having someone less known to the workshop recipients. If you would like to find out more or have any queries - Please do contact us |
international partnerships
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Whilst the V.I.P programme was initially developed for use in the UK it has now been translated in to several languages for use in different parts of the world. We are also keen to adapt the resources to meet the needs of individual groups and cultures and have worked closely with the Centre of Applied Research and Ethics (CARE Palestine), and the University of Massachusetts (Amherst, USA) to deliver training and resources to those working in Palestine to protect children and young people.
If you work with children or vulnerable groups anywhere in the world and would be interested in exploring what we can offer to your community - please get in touch |
An introduction to V.I.P
More about our V.I.P programme
- The V.I.P programme has grown over time to cover a broad range of ages and groups which may be more vulnerable to abuse. This section contains information about our children, young people and adult resources.
Please swipe through to learn more.
- The Wee V.I.P. programme is designed for children aged 3 to 6, the Tweenees programme is for age 7 to 12 and the Teen programme is for age 13+. The Wee V.I.P. consists of a pack containing a song, a story, a video with scenes about bullying, stranger danger and a child in danger from her uncle. The video is not frightening and allows for discussion of safe and unsafe situations and what to do about these situations. There is a game to teach children about going to a safe place and how to tell people about their feelings. None of the resources frightens or upsets children and all are age stage appropriate. The Wee VIP also works with parents, and staff working with children.
- The Tweenees V.I.P. programme consists of a range of resources which can be put together to make lessons about sexual abuse, domestic abuse, sexism, bullying, racism, gender issues, etc. There is a video with 11 scenes which include domestic abuse, sexual abuse and a range of other issues, a story book, activity books, workbooks and games. Resources are adapted for hearing, learning and visually impaired children. The resources are used in structured lessons within schools to encourage discussion, challenge and change attitudes and encourage disclosures of abuse and violence.
- The Teen V.I.P. has a video with more age-appropriate scenes including sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and domestic abuse. There is a resource pack of structured lessons addressing rights and responsibilities, facts and myths of violence, relationships, conflict resolution, violence against women and identifying and challenging the roots of violence. There is also a workbook, activity book, storybook, and a game to use with young people. All programmes are flexible and can be adjusted to tackle specific issues with young people when appropriate.
- The Senior V.I.P programme follows along similar lines to the younger age groups but has been developed specifically to increase the safety of vulnerable adults. Subjects covered include carer abuse, domestic abuse, fire safety, sexual assault and much more.
- Through partnership working and the input of people with lived experience 18u has created a DVD which is designed to support conversations around the topic of abuse and violence in the context of the lives of LGBTQI+ people.
The DVD explores several issues including coming out, homophobia, and same sex violence.
- Through delivery of the V.I.P. programme 18u challenges and changes the attitudes and beliefs in young people, which currently lead to violence and abuse. It challenges the many myths about gender, race, sexuality and ability that often lead to inequality and violence. It provides clear information on inequality, legislation, different types of abuse, the root causes of abuse and issues important to young people and encourages young people to share their stories of harm in a safe and supportive environment. It also encourages young people to disclose violence and abuse much earlier than they otherwise would do and increases the personal safety and awareness of children.
When delivered by trained staff, the V.I.P. programmes have been shown to be highly effective in encouraging disclosures of abuse in children and increasing knowledge of personal safety (Barron & Topping, 2010). This allows young people to get the help they need sooner than they might have otherwise, and the young people who receive the prevention programmes can go on to access support from 18u or other agencies.