Hiding and being hidden: The marginalisation of children’s participation in research and practice responses to domestic violence and abuse

Abstract

his group is known within the literature to be a hard to reach population. This is namely due to their perceived vulnerability, as well as efforts to protect them by adult gatekeepers, and rigorous ethical procedures that make recruitment efforts often challenging. Consequently, this group, sometimes for their own protection, remain hidden in the shadows when it comes to research and practice responses that continue to operate from an adult-centric lens when children’s agency is not fully acknowledged. This paper sets out to discuss the multiple ways by which children who experience domestic violence both hide and are hidden by adults, rendering them invisible. Based on findings from a qualitative doctoral study that sought to explore children’s experiences of the police response to domestic violence, this paper highlights the interconnectedness between children’s invisibility in practice and research, and the processes through which they become and can remain hidden in these two arenas. The paper calls for a need to bring children’s experiences of domestic violence out of the shadows and to begin to acknowledge their agency and capacity as both research participants and victims.