Summary of the impact

Professor Gill's research on the sexualisation of culture has had a significant impact on education, public discourse and policy-making concerned with young people, media and sexualisation. These ideas have been disseminated via the media through programs such as Thinking Allowed and Woman's Hour; have impacted on understandings of Internet safety and sexualisation among governmental and non-governmental bodies (e.g. the police, the NSPCC); and have directly informed policy debate via Professor Gill's expert witness statements to Parliamentary enquiries in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

Summary of the impact

Research on the impact of exposure to pornographic and sexualised material online and offline and the links to sexual exploitation, addresses major issues in contemporary society and raises awareness and improves policy and practice responses. The research has led to several impacts including: 1) improving policing and child protection practices through training with the Metropolitan Police and Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) on online grooming of children; 2) informing public debate on pornography, healthy relationships and sex education through extensive public engagement; and 3) impact on governmental policies regarding child protection and internet service provision. The key beneficiaries are vulnerable children and agencies working to protect them from sexual exploitation and exposure to pornography.

Summary of the impact

This case study demonstrates the impact generated through research studies at Plymouth University into `sexting', the self-generation and distribution of explicit images, by children and young people. The findings have informed briefing material for Ofsted inspectors, been used to develop material for schools, and led to schools developing new curriculum based support and peer mentoring. The research has also extended the understanding of the emerging issues and helped inform national debate and public discourse.

Summary of the impact

Mowlabocus' research (2006-present) on gay men's social-media-use practices and new sexual-risk behaviours has led to new understandings of the role of media in health interventions. It has also led to changes in the health promotion and intervention practices of sexual health charities including the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), as well as in statutory services, including those offered within Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust, which covers an area with the highest UK percentage LGBT population and a very high incidence of HIV diagnosis and infection. These changes include, in the case of THT, the development and use of a new information website and intervention toolkit — designed to decrease the spread of HIV amongst those engaged in unsafe behaviours — which is being used in training for its staff across its 31 regional offices in the UK.

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on two related areas: the issue of violence against female students and how this is framed by `lad culture' in higher education (HE). It documents five areas where Alison Phipps' research has either directly led or indirectly contributed to change:

• work with the National Union of Students (NUS) which has informed their policies and interventions;
• improved public and policy understanding of the issues of violence against female students and `lad culture' in UK HE;
• Students' Unions and other groups adopting `zero-tolerance' policies in relation to sexual harassment and abuse and attempting to tackle aspects of `lad culture';
• institutions developing procedural frameworks around reporting and addressing violence against female students; and
• governmental, public and third-sector organisations including students as a key demographic in their policies and initiatives around violence against women.

Summary of the impact

Child protection policy and practice has largely ignored young people's experiences of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and peer-on-peer violence. Law enforcement and child protection responses are not integrated, resulting in oversimplified interpretations of young people's victimhood and criminality. As the only research centre in Europe exclusively targeting these problems, The International Centre: Researching Child Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Trafficking has had direct impact on:

• Policy: using research findings to create safeguarding tools for all English Local Safeguarding Children's Boards; evaluating service provision, actively informing Scottish, Irish and English government departments; advising The Council of Europe and Eurochild; attracting funding for CSE prevention in six European countries;
• Practice: actively working with four UK children's charities to prevent CSE; directing funding to CSE practitioners by coordinating over 23 funding trusts; running a `CSE research forum' which engages with over 500 practitioners and researchers,
• Sexually exploited young people: advocating child centred evidence practice-based interventions, promoting innovative child centred ethical research and integrating the voices of over 800 young people from the UK into policy and research agendas. Enabling victims of CSE to gain internships and employment, improving their assertiveness through media training and offering opportunities for skill development through creative art and film activities.

Summary of the impact

The three studies described here have helped to improve the lives and prospects of girls in six African countries. Thanks to the IOE researchers and their project partners, hundreds of Nigerian families have allowed their daughters to return to school. In Kenya, a tougher approach has been adopted towards teachers who sexually abuse girl pupils. In Ghana, police are encouraging more girls to report assaults. Mozambique is promoting school clubs where issues such as HIV/AIDS can be discussed. Girls' clubs have been set up in Tanzania, and in South Africa education officials have been prompted to look for more effective ways of managing teenage pregnancy. The studies' reach has, additionally, extended beyond Africa, influencing many other countries' thinking on girls' education and two House of Commons inquiries into the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals and violence against girls and women.

Summary of the impact

Between 25% and 33% of all perpetrators of sexual abuse in the UK are children or young people. Policy and practice in relation to this group has been under-developed. The research detailed in this case study constitutes a body of work that has identified gaps in service delivery and has significantly advanced policy, training, treatment services, and assessment and intervention practices for this group of children and their families. The research findings have led to a shift across key service providers, including Barnardo's and NSPCC, away from adult sex offender approaches towards more child-centred and holistic interventions.

Summary of the impact

Research providing novel insights into children's perspectives on families and relationships has had wide impact on policy and practice in Scotland. Through a partnership with ChildLine Scotland, research conducted into children's calls has:

• led to the development of voluntary sector services to support children affected by their parents' drinking
• provided key information used to raise the awareness of `harm to others' in the change of alcohol policy to focus on reducing population-level alcohol consumption in Scotland (introduction of restrictions on sales and minimum pricing)
• been included in the training and education for parents, teachers and health improvement staff responsible for sexual health education of about 98,000 school-age children.

Summary of the impact

Policy-makers, professional and public audiences interested in young people's learning about sex and sexuality often approach discussions with strongly-held, sometimes conflicting views. Research at Sheffield Hallam University has contributed knowledge and understanding to discussions in national policy and practice development, and public debate, with impacts on education, service provision and support for young people. Findings have been used in Parliamentary debates, by national organisations lobbying for continued or improved provision in personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), and in discussions about bullying in both lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT)-specific, and also in mainstream, community contexts. This has led to increased understanding about homophobia and LGBT wellbeing.