Pathways to safety: adolescents’ experiences of care and support services for sexual violence in Pernambuco, Brazil

This study explores how young people experience care and support services intended for children affected by commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), drawing on their own perspectives to inform service design and delivery. Twenty young people aged 12–17, based in Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil, took part. All had accessed services aimed at addressing or preventing Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), often in the context of other adverse childhood experiences. The study involved semi-structured interviews analysed using techniques from constructivist grounded theory. The analysis highlights the complexity of young people’s engagement with support services, which we organise into three overarching thematic frames. First, we identify the intersecting risk factors that contributed to their initial contact with services. Second, we examine their diverse experiences of service relationships, which ranged along a continuum from harmful to protective. Within this, five interrelated factors emerged as shaping perceptions of support: comfort, information, basics, acceptance, and service availability. Third, we explore how young people exercised agency through the companion dynamics of control and trust. Findings indicate the importance of designing services that actively foster young people’s sense of safety. Control and trust emerged as foundational to this sense of safety and are closely linked to the five identified support factors. These insights can guide more responsive and effective care for children and adolescents affected by CSE.