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Research demonstrates that relationships are key when working to support young people affected by sexual violence. Within these relationships, young people show a preference for non‐judgemental, flexible, consistent and informal support. Peer support – defined here as support provided by those with similar experiences – is however an uncharted area for assisting young people affected by sexual violence. This paper draws on interviews with 25 respondents with knowledge and experience of setting up, supervising and/or participating in peer support initiatives for young people impacted by different forms of sexual violence in Europe and North America. The article highlights how one form of peer support, peer or 'survivor' mentoring, can provide emotional and social support; create space for 'normality'; and give choices to young people. It outlines three unique dimensions to the support provided by peers more generally: relatability, credibility and translatability. The discussion reflects on what this might mean for traditional support provided by professionals. It also draws attention to the significance of recognising both the variety of experience and identity of young survivors of sexual trauma and the impact this may have on promoting relatability within relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from the European Union (EU) DAPHNE project ALC-VIOL (2005–07). The project involved ten EU states (Germany, Austria, England, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Poland and Spain). The research involved interviews with young people aged 12–18 from Germany, Poland, Spain, England and Malta on their experiences of living with parental alcohol misuse and parental violence. The children all had parents involved in treatment for alcohol problems. The study highlights the stressful experiences these children underwent, the effects on them, their coping strategies, and the support that they received and/or wished for, and underlines the need for a more coherent approach to help these children. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the range of differences within European child protection systems and considers the relationship between different approaches and the integration of children and family services. A distinction is made between structures that are child and family welfare focused, and those that are child protection focused. Some of the different structures of service delivery are described and the effect of these structures on the roles of the main stakeholders (and therefore on integration of services) is considered. Reference is made to a practice-based research project that considered co-operation and communication between health and welfare services in 12 countries. This research provides examples of different ways of integrating services and encouraging co-operation. It is not possible to construct ‘league tables’ of best performing structures and services cross-nationally because there are no reliably comparable statistics, but the research project gave indications of the factors that contributed to better communication and to better outcomes. Structure did not seem to be of primary importance, though it might help or hinder. However, with co-operation, very different structures could work effectively. In general, high levels of material resources helped. However, professional time was the most important resource, because time was needed to develop effective working relationships with other professionals. The factors that facilitated good interdisciplinary and interagency work point to the centrality of a professional and managerial culture that values the development of good working relationships both with families and with other professionals. Conflictual and defensive inter-professional relationships created problems, however well organized the system. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]