New survey to ask young people in Northamptonshire about their experience of intimate relationships

A large part of the consultation, which will be aimed at 12 to 18 year olds, will be undertaken through 20 secondary schools using an array of methods across the first two weeks of November, including capturing young people’s experiences through a survey.

The project is being carried out after a large-scale study on online safety earlier this year revealed youngsters in the county are facing issues within intimate relationships at an increasingly young age.

Adam Simmonds, Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “Our consultation into online safety earlier this year revealed that there are a number of issues that young people are facing in intimate relationships. However we don’t yet fully understand these and in order for us to properly support young people, we need to get a better understanding of what’s happening.

“The aim of this consultation is to fully understand the size of the issues teens are facing in relationships in Northamptonshire, and to understand who young people currently speak to and seek support from when having negative experiences.

“We will ensure young people’s views and experiences influence the delivery of the Northamptonshire Children and Young People’s victims service that is currently being commissioned, so that services are tailored to needs and offer the best possible form of support.”

The commissioner’s office has enlisted Service Six to run workshops to ensure young people are properly supported and receive educational messages whilst being consulted.

The Core theatre group will also run sessions for whole year groups to highlight possible issues being faced in negative, intimate relationships.

In addition to this, smaller sessions will also be run with specific vulnerable groups, including young people with disabilities, children in care, young offenders and mental health service users.