Bridging the knowledge triad: Integrating knowledge to end violence against children
24th November 2025How can we make child protection systems more responsive to real needs on the ground?
The knowledge triad is a groundbreaking model that unites scientific data, practice-based expertise, and lived experience to strengthen policies and child protection systems worldwide.
Global child protection relies heavily on data, such as the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), to guide action.
Yet data alone isn’t enough. Without the insights of practitioners and the lived experience of survivors, systems risk missing what truly works on the ground.
In many low-resource contexts, these forms of knowledge are undervalued or siloed, weakening response and accountability.
The knowledge triad: Three pillars of change
- Data and evidence: VACS and other data sources reveal the scope of violence, risk and protective factors, and key demographic insights to inform national priorities.
- Lived experience: Survivor and youth leadership ensure that those most impacted have a voice in shaping prevention and solutions, and drive accountability and public trust.
- Practice-based knowledge (PbK): Frontline experience exposes what works — and where systems fail.
Together, these create a cohesive public health approach to child protection — one that is driven by both data and the experiences and insights of practitioners, children, youth, and survivors.
Real-world application
Kenya's data-driven decade of change
In 2010, Kenya's first national VACS revealed alarming statistics about the prevalence of physical, sexual, and emotional violence among boys and girls. The government established measures to prevent violence in schools, including making education free and compulsory for all children.
Almost a decade later, the 2019 Kenya VACS indicated a reduction in the overall prevalence of violence, with fewer than 60% of children reporting experiencing at least one form of violence.
The power of data-driven action at a national level was proven for the first time, uncovering the efficacy of government integration of multiple knowledge sources in policymaking.
Governments and partners use the VACS Data to Action process to strengthen prevention, healing and justice. Effectively addressing violence against children and youth requires understanding the magnitude and nature of the problem and responding with a coordinated, multi-sector approach that builds systems for prevention and response including services for survivors.
Learn more about the Data to Action process
The value of survivors' expertise in Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Survivor Council is an independent, survivor-led organisation and a member of the Brave Movement. The Council was established to ensure that victims and survivors are embedded as central partners in shaping how Northern Ireland responds to sexual and domestic abuse, across justice, support, and prevention.
Survivors have firsthand experience and insights into the complexities, challenges, and needs of those who have suffered from childhood sexual violence. National survivor councils center lived experience to guarantee the solutions built are not only informed, but truly transformative. Their direct experiences provide invaluable perspectives and expertise that policymakers may lack.
National survivor councils ensure survivors aren't just heard—they’re leading the way.
Learn more about the Brave Movement and national survivor councils
Practitioners' insights at the forefront: Practice-based knowlege
Practitioners often work in under-resourced, under-researched contexts, and their learning is grounded in real-world action, iteration, and reflection. This kind of insight is known as Practice-based Knowledge (PbK). It has long been undervalued —or, often, left out of the conversation entirely.
The PbK Guidance Framework by the Safe Futures Hub, a joint initiative between Together for Girls, WeProtect Global Alliance and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), highlights how PbK contributes to more effective response and prevention approaches and offers tools, reflection prompts, and steps to support practitioners in identifying the knowledge emerging from their daily work and using it ethically to improve practice.
By providing real-world PbK examples from diverse regions and contexts, the PbK Guidance Framework is a key resource to support frontline expertise to drive stronger programmes, services, and policy.
Learn more about the Practice-based Knowledge and Safe Futures Hub
Why this matters now
Data can tell us what’s happening — but not always why, or how to fix it. With myriad global crises, austerity, and social fragmentation threatening child protection budgets globally, integrating the triad isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity for effective, equitable, and survivor-centered systems.
Integrating data, practice, and lived experience makes systems more resilient, ensuring that every child’s safety is informed by evidence and empathy.
The knowledge triad is more than a framework — it’s a movement toward inclusive, responsive governance and solutions, informed by science and lived experience. When we break down siloes and capture insights at all levels, we generate efficiencies and pave the way for cost-effective, responsive solutions. The ability to do so matters more now than ever, as the global aid and geopolitical landscapes shift in often-seismic ways.