Sparking Collective Action and Community Ownership: Using Open Space Technology to Inform Priorities for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention

Efforts to address child sexual abuse (CSA) in the United States focus largely on individuals and families, with nonprofit organizations dedicating resources to providing support and advocacy after abuse happens. Providing pivotal trauma-informed services and specialized resources for child survivors and their trusted caregivers is only one piece of the puzzle relative to CSA prevention; the other is empowering communities to act in concert in the best interest of their children through collective action and active participation to prevent CSA before it happens. Seeking community voice to inform and lead prevention efforts is needed to scaffold existing local initiatives, as well as tailoring new resources to reduce and prevent CSA. Thus, we applied the facilitation process Open Space Technology (OST) to host focus group conversations with 32 individuals who lived in or had familial, work, or educational ties to Kent County, West Michigan, to discuss the rights, safety, and well-being of children. Participants' main priorities were organized into three themes: community engagement; child safety; and belonging. Then, participants organized themselves into focus groups around those themes. Participants identified CSA prevention as a community responsibility and explored the potential for collaboration across nonprofit and business sectors. They further emphasized that communities must support parents relative to awareness raising and education. This shift toward community responsibility addresses common misperceptions that CSA is a "private family issue" or that it does not happen in all communities. These themes will be used, in partnership with community members and community organizations, to drive community‑centered initiatives to address CSA.