Boys and Young Men Animations

The animations were created as part of a renewed effort by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI), YouthAction NI & VOYPIC to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation (CSE) as experienced by boys and young men.  Building on the ‘Shout Out Speak Out’ campaign from 2017 boys and young men developed the animations as a way for them to raise awareness amongst their generation of the risk of sexual exploitation.

Key messages from the boys and young men were that they did not understand the term ‘exploitation’ and that it was important to explain what it was, as well as to show that it can happen to anyone in a variety of different ways, in different settings and by different types of people. They also said that the signposting numbers to get help in relation to issues affecting them in relation to CSE needed to be easy to see and the suggestion was that it should not be a poster or a card but an animation that can be shared on social media. 

NEEP productions was commissioned to develop three animation story boards which were presented to the boys and young men for their feedback. The storyboards were adapted to incorporate their suggestions and feedback e.g. different hair styles in the characters to show they are different people, use of hard-hitting language and terminology etc. The young men co-designed the animation and all of its content. Once the animations and scripts were completed, some members of the groups provided the voices for the different characters. The animations were launched at an event, led by the young people, in Belfast on 4 October ’23.

Watch, use and share the animations widely. 

If this is something you need help with or you know someone who is affected by child sexual exploitation, talk to someone you trust like a parent, teacher, youth worker or you can get help by ringing or contacting any of the following organisations…