LINEA is an international, multi-pronged project testing how social norm theory can be used to reduce the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents (SECA) in regions across the world.
Join the LINEA Network here to get the latest news about LINEA's research and upcoming webinars, as well as updates from LINEA Network members working on social norms and preventing sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
With the second phase of LINEA now in full swing, expect to see more resources and publications posted here soon.
Since 2015, LINEA has hosted more than 20 webinars, featuring the most cutting edge research and practice on preventing sexual exploitation of children and adolescents using a social norms approach. You can see all the previous LINEA Webinar recordings on our YouTube Channel.
We also jointly hosted a webinar series with the Care and Protection of Children (CPC) Learning Network at Columbia University, and the recordings are available here.
The Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation and Abuse (LINEA) is an international and multi-pronged project exploring how social norm theory can be used to prevent the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and adolescents globally. Centring adolescent girls, LINEA aims to provide an alternative to research and programmes, which have traditionally focussed on providing girls with skills and information. Instead, LINEA aims to better understand and address the interdependence of human behaviour and the structural realities that shape the individual experience of adolescent girls. LINEA was established in 2014 and is nested within Gender Violence and Health Centre (GHVC) at LSHTM.
There are three key streams of LINEA’s work which are as follows:
- Contributing to conceptual clarity and theory
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LINEA is working towards gaining deeper conceptual clarity around the issues of sexual exploitation and abuse of young people. This includes two desk reviews, the first of which reviews how child sexual exploitation has been defined and conceptualised over time by researchers, practitioners and international bodies. The second considers existing evidence about how social norms and other structural factors may contribute to the sexual exploitation of children. LINEA is also collaborating with partners to develop and refine a conceptual model of child sexual exploitation and its drivers.
- Producing evidence for using social norm theory to prevent sexual exploitation of children and adolescents
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LINEA has conducted research with adolescent and adult community members in Tanzania and Uganda to examine the norms, expectations and contexts that shape and perpetuate the practice of transactional sex. Through individual interviews and focus group discussions, we are seeking to better understand how transactional sex is understood and conceptualised, and when and if transactional sex is considered “exploitative.”
This research is being used to inform the development of an exciting new multi-component social norms focussed intervention. Using a curriculum and media based approach; the intervention aims to prevent sexual exploitation of children in Tanzania due to transactional sex between older men and adolescent girls.
LINEA has also been conducting research in partnership with Promundo, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Again, the aim is to uncover the norms both fostering and preventing transactional sex relationships in three of Rio’s favela communities. This research is the first of its kind in Brazil, not only due to the subject matter, but also in that it will generate a new scale on Sexual Exploitation Norms (SEN) to measure social norms associated with sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
- Creating a community of practice: The LINEA Network
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LINEA hosts a network of partners in research, programming, policy, advocacy and funding who are using a social norms approach to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse of young people. It is a vibrant and open forum for groups and individuals engaging with, or interested in learning about, norms and structural factors driving vulnerability. The LINEA Network hosts regular webinars, providing a platform for the most cutting edge research and initiatives. The Network also organises biennial meetings where selected participants can share their insights and share them within the community of practice.
Join the LINEA Network here to get the latest news about LINEA's research and upcoming webinars, as well as updates from LINEA Network members working on social norms and preventing sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
To watch previous LINEA webinars visit the LINEA YouTube Channel. Find other resources from the LINEA Network on our resource page.
You can find more information about LINEA in this introductory webinar:
Current Members
Dr Ana Maria Buller
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR / PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (LSHTM)
Ana Maria is LINEA Principal Investigator and project lead. She is also the Deputy Director of the Gender Violence and Health Centre.
Lottie Howard-Merrill
RESEARCH FELLOW
Lottie supports the field-testing and development of the LINEA Intervention and leads communications for the LINEA Network. Get in touch to learn more!
Marjorie Pichon
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Marjorie supports various components of LINEA including formative research and dissemination.
Former Members
Dr Nambusi Kyegmobe
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR / PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IN UGANDA (LSHTM)
Nambusi was the Principal Investigator for LINEA’s formative research on transactional sex in Uganda. She is a member of the Gender Violence and Health Centre at LSHTM.
Dr Joyce Wamoyi
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IN TANZANIA (NIMR, TANZANIA)
Joyce was the Principal Investigator for the formative research on transactional sex in Tanzania. She works at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mwanza, Tanzania.
EVIDENCE BRIEF: Systematic review of social norms linked to the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents
Marjorie Pichon, Lottie Howard-Merrill, Ana Maria Buller
June, 2020
The agenda below links to presentations and video from LINEA’s Inaugural Meeting, held in Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, UK, 30 March-1 April 2015.
The Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation and Abuse (LINEA) is led from the Gender Violence and Health Centre (GVHC) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). To join the network, register here. To watch LINEA webinars, visit the LINEA Channel.
Read the full LINEA Meeting report here.
Here’s the full agenda from the meeting, with links to slides and selected videos.
Monday, 30 March 2015
Welcome, Goals of the Meeting & Introductions
Lori Heise, LSHTM
Overview of the LINEA Project and Network
Ana Maria Buller, LSHTM
State of the Evidence on Preventing and Responding to Sexual Exploitation of Children
Lorraine Radford, University of Central Lancashire
Click to watch Lorraine Radford’s presentation
Case Studies of Research on Sexual Exploitation of Children
Growing Up on the Streets: Girls’ Experiences of Sexual Exploitation
Lorraine van Blerk, University of Dundee
Click to watch Lorraine van Blerk’s presentation
Learning about Children in Urban Slums: Findings from a Rapid Ethnographic Study of Two Urban Slums in Mombasa
Kathleen Kostelny, The Columbia Group for Children in Adversity
‘On the Right Track’: Intervention with Truck Drivers in Brazil
Anna Flora Werneck, World Childhood Foundation
Click to watch Anna Flora Werneck’s presentation
Lightening Talks: Thoughts on Prevention
‘We Protect Children’ – Programme for Child Abuse Prevention and Certification of the Institutions Complying with the Standards for Child Protection
Katarzyna Makurak, Nobody’s Children Foundation
Thoughts on Sexual Violence Prevention from the ‘Our Voices’ Youth Advisors
Claire Cody, University of Bedfordshire
Involvement of Young People at Risk in Prevention of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
Maia Rusakova, Stellit
The C.H.I.L.D. Protection Hub for South East Europe – a Creative Hub for Interactive Learning and Development
Sendrine Constant, Terre des Hommes
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Social Norm Theory and Social Change
Overview of norm theory
Lori Heise, LSHTM
Click to watch Lori Heise’s presentation
Discriminatory Social Norms and Institutions, Adolescent Girls and Gender Justice
Caroline Harper, ODI
Click to watch Caroline Harper’s presentation
Applied Examples and Deducing Norms from Qualitative Data
Ben Cislaghi, Tostan
Small Group Work: Applying norms to sexual exploitation examples
Transactional Sex: Boundaries between Agency and Exploitation
Understanding and Conceptualising Transactional Sex in sub-Saharan Africa
Kirsten Stoebenau, International Centre for Research on Women
Emerging Findings from Tanzania Study on Social Norms and Transactional Sex
Joyce Wamoyi, National Medical Research Institute of Tanzania
Cross-generational and Transactional Sexual Relations in Uganda: Income poverty as a Risk Factor for Adolescents
Grace Bantebya, Makerere University
Click to watch Grace Bantebya’s presentation
Participatory Exercise: Considering scenarios
Panel: Defining Exploitation
Defining Sexual Exploitation: The Need for Common Language
Clara Sommarin, UNICEF
Competing Paradigms on the Sexual Exploitation of Children, and a Draft Conceptual Model
Rebecca Meiksin and Ana Maria Buller, LSHTM
Complexities of working with older adolescents
Joanna Busza, LSHTM
Small Group Discussions: Discussions of paradigms, conceptual boundaries, and choosing words fit for purpose. Do we need consensus definitions?
Overview of protocols for Wednesday’s discussions
- Social Norms and Child Sexual Exploitation by Men: Protocol for piloting an exploratory field study Patti Petesch, Independent Researcher
- Social Norms and Sexual Exploitation in Brazil: Draft of a study in four communities in Rio Vanessa Fonseca and Giovanna Lauro, Promundo
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Competing Notions of Childhood
Afua Twum-Danso Imoh, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield
Panel: Child Domestic Labour and Sexual Exploitation
Introduction to Vulnerabilities of Child Domestic Workers; Resilience in Child Domestic Workers Facing Sexual Exploitation
Helen Veitch, Children Unite and Oak Foundation
Child Domestic Labour and Sexual Exploitation in Ethiopia: The Role of Brokers
Hanan Nourhussein, Population Council – Ethiopia
Observations from the Field: Young Female Domestic Workers’ Health and Wellbeing in Delhi
Jenny Svensson, PhD candidate at LSHTM
Small Group Discussions: To workshop individual research studies
Parallel Sessions on Methods
- Exploring Methods to Measure/Track Social Norms
Session leaders: How V4C is measuring social norms Julian Barr and Emeka Nwankwo, Voices for Change, Social norms and community-based care programming in humanitarian settings: Sexual violence against women and girls affected by conflict Nancy Glass, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
- Ethics in Research with Children
Session leaders: Safeguarding children in research Mark Capaldi, ECPAT International, Ethics in research with children Nambusi Kyegombe, LSHTM
- Participatory Methods for Data Collection
Session leaders: Lorraine van Blerk (University of Dundee) and Helen Veitch (Children Unite, and Oak Foundation)
Small Group Discussions: Participants divide into 3 groups to develop recommendations on the following topics:
- Important next steps for researching sexual exploitation
- What do we need/want from the LINEA Network?
- Topics for skills development, methodological research, and/or webinars
Welcome to the resource page for LINEA’s second biennial meeting entitled: ‘From Research to Social Change: Exploring Possibilities for Preventing Sexual Exploitation of Children Using a Social Norms Perspective’. The meeting was held on the 16th – 18thOctober, 2017 in Windsor, UK.
To read the meeting report, please click here. See below for the meeting agenda with links to presentations where available.
Day 1 – Monday 16th October
| Update on LINEA: What has changed since the last meeting?
Welcome, goals of the meeting & introductions (Ana Maria Buller, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) Insights from development of a social norms framework (Ben Cislaghi, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) A systematic literature review on social norms and preventing sexual exploitation of children (Marie-Celine Schulte, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
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| Update on LINEA: Findings from LINEA research
Social norms and motivations driving intergenerational transactional sex in Tanzania (Joyce Wamoyi, National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania) Tanzania Formative Research_LINEA Team, Social Norms Meta-Analysis Social norms and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in Brazil, preliminary findings from a qualitative study |
| Panel and Q&A: Child centred research, prevention and response to sexual exploitation of children and adolescents
Centring children in research to understand sexual exploitation Multi-country evidence review of policies and programs to prevent and respond to online sexual exploitation of children The C.H.I.L.D. Protection Hub for South East Europe- a Creative Hub for Interactive Learning and Development |
Day 2 – Tuesday 17th October
| Presentation and Q&A: Operationalising measurement of social norm change 1
The Samata Intervention to reduce child marriage and school drop-out among adolescent girls in south India: Analysis of social norms data Measuring Social Norms Underpinning Intimate Partner Violence in Nepal |
| Presentation and Q&A: Operationalising measurement of social norm change 2
COMPASS, Preventing Violence Against Conflict-Affected Girls_Measuring norms in Randomized Control Trials in DRC and Ethiopia Violence in adolescent’s lives_reflections on measuring norms and practices and intervening with boys to prevent violence |
| Presentation and Q&A:Learning about and addressing social norms as they relate to gender power dynamics (Amy Pennington, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) |
| Panel and Q&A: Process insights from applying social norms theory in intervention design
Highlights from CARE Strengthening the Enabling Environment for Young Women’s Empowerment in Nigeria: Results and Learning from Voices for Change How radio and outreach can change couples’ communication in Nepal |
Day 3 – Wednesday 18th October
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Panel and Q&A: Adolescent girls development: putting evidence into practice
Insights from the implementation of DREAMS in Tanzania Theories of agency and empowerment and the construction of ‘girlhood’ through development narratives Amani Girls Home adaptations of SASA! And Power to Girls in Mwanza, Tanzania |
The Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation and Abuse (LINEA) is led from the Gender Violence and Health Centre (GVHC) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). To join the network, register here. To watch LINEA webinars, visit the LINEA Channel.