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Background: After 14 years of civil war and two rounds of democratic elections, Liberia is working to reduce child abuse and exploitation. Young children's perceptions on protection and risk are rarely elicited to inform program planning and intervention. Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore young children's perceptions of child protection and risk in a post-conflict setting and how visual methodologies may facilitate this process. Methods: Six group discussions using visual methodologies were conducted with 59 children aged 7-11 years living in family and residential care in rural and urban settings in Central and Western Liberia. Data were analysed using inductive coding. Results: There was no unanimous concept of "child," which included people with limited capabilities between the ages of 5-46 years. Children identified a number of risk and protective factors. Normative knowledge (e.g., smoking) elicited unanimous reactions whereas survival-related life experiences (e.g., violence or food) yielded ambivalent understandings of risk and protection. Visual methods facilitated active and thoughtful participation among young children. Conclusions: These findings add to the scarce literature on child participation in public decision-making in child protection. They also have practical implications. Children's own and community transmitted perceptions of life experiences need to be taken into account to inform service planning and implementation. Visual methods are recommended to that end as they increase participation among young children and help avoid pre-conceived notions of dangerous and protective practices.