Consent for research on violence against children: dilemmas and contradictions

The increasing visibility of violence involving children has led to a recognition of the need to research its underlying dynamics. As a result, we now have a better understanding of the complexities involved in this kind of research, associated with children’s developmental characteristics and social status, exposure to violence, and compromised parenting of caregivers. This paper discusses the issues raised by parental consent in research on violence against children, specifically the dilemma of children’s rights to participation and protection, and proposes changes in research practice in this domain. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study had financial support from National Funds through the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) through CIEC (Research Centre on Child Studies), with the reference UID/CED/00317/2019.