Resistance as a form of power
Back in 2021, Professor Kristine Langhoff and her team at the University of Sussex began a three year project exploring what resistance looks like in the lives of girls and young women affected by sexual violence and exploitation.
The work set out to understand resistance not as something to minimise or control, but as an important part of how young people protect themselves, assert boundaries and navigate situations that feel unsafe. Several of the Safer London’s VIPs took part throughout, helping shape how resistance was understood and represented within the research.
The first phase of the project focused on creative collaboration. Young people, researchers and artists worked together to produce zines, a protest quilt and a film. These creative pieces captured resistance as something grounded in survival and self expression, rather than defiance for its own sake. For many of the young people involved, the creative process offered safer and more expressive ways to articulate the strategies they use to cope, especially when those strategies are often overlooked or misinterpreted by adults.
After the initial phase, the research team returned to speak with the wider VIP group, including young men and women who’d experienced different forms of harm including violence in the community and criminal exploitation. Their experiences, reflections and challenges played a role in the development of a new set of interactive cards for professionals working with children and young people.
These cards were shaped directly by young people. They informed the language, the scenarios and the questions, making sure the tools reflect real experiences rather than assumptions. Their involvement helped create a resource that feels relevant, honest and grounded in the ways young people understand their own safety, risk and decision‑making.
The cards represent a shift we continually emphasise at Safer London - behaviours often labelled as “challenging” or “resistant” can instead be signs of a young person trying to stay safe, hold onto autonomy or communicate something important when speaking openly doesn’t feel possible.
Now available for professionals across the country, the cards support safer conversations and encourage practitioners to approach resistance with greater curiosity, respect and trauma‑informed understanding.
Last week, members of the Safer London team attended the Imagining Resistance conference, joined by two VIPs, Chanelle and Eliah. Eliah wasn’t just attending - she is part of the project, appearing in the film and sharing first‑hand what the work meant to her. Hearing directly from her grounded the discussions in the lived realities behind the research and highlighted why the project’s findings matter. The new card deck was launched during the event, with Eliah acting as one of its proofreaders.
We left the conference inspired by the strength, insight and creativity young people bring to the concept of resistance. The project makes clear that resistance is not something to dismiss or suppress. It’s often an expression of hope - a young person trying to protect themselves, make choices or be heard while facing pressure or harm. When professionals recognise this, their responses shift. Support becomes safer, trust grows and young people feel understood, not judged.
For professionals working with children and young people who’ve experienced harm, this project offers something vital. It challenges punitive interpretations of behaviour and encourages approaches rooted in understanding, context and care.
Seeing resistance differently helps practitioners slow down, listen more closely and work with young people rather than imposing expectations on them. It also supports a clearer recognition of the pressures shaping a young person’s world - whether that’s harm, exploitation, trauma, unmet needs or systemic and structural inequalities - and promotes responses grounded in patience, curiosity and respect.
The findings reinforce what underpins all of our work at Safer London - trust takes time, safety is co‑created and young people’s expertise in their own lives must guide the support they receive. Imagining Resistance provides a shared language and set of tools that can help professionals meet young people where they are.
The project doesn’t just document resistance - it repositions it. It offers new ways to notice it, talk about it and respond to it. Most importantly, it honours the voices of young people whose insight continues to shape the practice we deliver and the systems we work to influence.
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