Harassment, death threats, and burnout: The risks of child advocacy

Kyoka Shodladd, an 18-year-old activist from Thailand, began taking to podiums, attending global dialogues, and working with international NGOs at 11 years old. The teenager, who uses they/them pronouns, would advocate for climate justice, LGBTQ+ equality, and democracy, encouraged and supported to do so by various local and international organizations. But being a child activist cost Shodladd friends, exposed them to harassment, and affected their mental health. “I’ve faced verbal harassment and threats from strangers … simply for holding protest signs or responding to their questions. Initially, I felt terrified, but over time, those feelings of terror turned into numbness as I became accustomed to negativity,” Shodladd told Devex. It is increasingly common to see young people speaking at global summits, explaining how issues such as climate change and mental health are affecting their generation. Passionate and oftentimes armed with strong personal stories to share, they can make compelling advocates for international organizations. At the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 28, there was a dedicated child and youth pavilion, while at the most recent U.N. General Assembly, there was a “Youth Blast,” a day of youth-led meetings. The point from an advocacy perspective is the old mantra, “nothing about us without us.” “It is crucial their [young people’s] opinions are heard and taken seriously,” Thomas Sayers, UNICEF’s chief of youth engagement, told Devex. “They will be the ones living with the decisions that are made for years to come.” But while participating in these big platforms provides unique opportunities for young people, former youth advocates told Devex it also comes with consequences that nongovernmental organizations don’t always consider or offer support for. That can include online harassment, physical threats, and mental health ramifications. “The risks are really very real, and I do wonder if we're asking enough about that,” said Amy Travis, a child safeguarding and protection consultant. For example, a recording of a child’s speech on the internet could lead to misuse of their image; reliving trauma in a public forum could have mental health ramifications; and speaking on controversial issues could make them targets — even putting their physical safety at risk. Malala Yousafzai was just 15 when she was shot for speaking out about girls’ rights to education; Breiner David Cucuñame López was killed at age 14 for trying to protect an Indigenous reservation in Colombia; and in Iran, child protestors as young as 12 have been arrested and tortured. Shodladd said a taxi driver in Bangkok attempted to run her over after hearing her views on democracy. Ahmad Nisar, who began advocating on education, gender equality, and climate issues in Afghanistan when he was 15, told Devex he had to flee to Australia after his work led to threats of violence once the Taliban returned to power. There are also mental health impacts. Severn Cullis-Suzuki, a Canadian activist who became well-known in the development sector when she spoke at the U.N.’s Earth Summit in 1992, when she was 12 years old, explained how feelings of alienation and disempowerment began to encroach on her 20s after a decade of attending global fora where she felt talk failed to turn into action. “I really was happy that people respected me as a person. I felt like people really mentored and respected me so it was a very positive experience,” she said. “But I didn't really realize how alienating the [Earth Summits] were until I was older. … I started seeing the same people, and I [thought] this is weird because it feels like we're doing something by just going to these conferences, but we're not.” Eventually, she shunned such events in favor of community-level activism around conservation and Indigenous rights. Melati Wijsen, a Dutch-Indonesian activist and founder of Bye Bye Plastic Bags, is starting to experience the same. She began campaigning against plastic use in Bali with her sister when she was 12 years old and has since been invited to speak at several COPs, join various U.N. councils, and deliver TED Talks. Now, at 23, she explains how frustration would peak after events where she’d battled her nerves to speak only to be called “cute” and then be faced with what she felt was lip service from decision-makers with little tangible action. “[Organizations] say … ‘We really care about child and youth participation.’ But you don't walk the talk. … You don't consult with us. … They just want to pick random representatives to be the face of their projects.” --— Dina Chaerani, founder, Sexdugram The pressure she felt to “be everything to everyone” and to constantly be “inspiring” led to burnout. “If I had to do it again … honestly, I don't know if I would be brave enough because it takes a lot of courage to stand there and to continuously keep on going,” she said. Almost all the activists Devex spoke to had also experienced online abuse as a result of their advocacy. “It happens to all activists,” said Mila Mihajlović, who began human rights advocacy in Kosovo when she was 12 and has since collaborated with various U.N. agencies. Mihajlović received threats on social media and also found her name used without her permission on “threatening and harassing promotional material” for right-wing groups she didn’t condone that twisted her words to promote a different narrative. Yet the former youth advocates said they were never given much advice on how to handle this. Mihajlović said the harassment she experienced wasn’t linked to a specific event or engagement opportunity so she didn't feel she could seek support from organizations. Shodladd believes some NGOs request the involvement of young people simply as a box-ticking exercise and lack real appreciation for their perspectives and the consequences of their involvement. Dina Chaerani, a former youth advocate with Plan International Indonesia and other organizations, agreed. The founder of Sexdugram, an online platform that provides sexuality education for Indonesian youth, she began her advocacy work when she was 15 and described receiving last-minute calls telling her she needed to speak at events with little notice. That meant she was regularly missing school, which had an effect on her education. There were also cases where an organization would ask her to read out speeches she hadn’t written or contributed to, which made her feel uncomfortable and tokenized. “You [organizations] say … ‘We really care about child and youth participation.’ But you don't walk the talk. … You don't consult with us,” she said. “They just want to pick random representatives to be the face of their projects.” Others also spoke of experiences that had made them feel tokenized. Nisar, for example, was asked to review applications for an initiative on behalf of a major international organization, but was never so much as updated on the outcome. The benefits of child activism Positive engagement can lead to significant benefits for the young people, and most of them said they were glad for their time in youth advocacy. For Shodladd, some of the skills they acquired helped them to expand the scope of their activism. They’re currently a member of a parliamentary subcommittee that recently helped to advance the legalization of same-sex marriage in Thailand and the author of a book on advocacy for young people. Chaerani eventually moved into a staff role with Plan and now works as an associate for youth nonprofit YIELD Hub. Nisar is a facilitator of a youth mental health advocacy program and regularly collaborates on youth engagement and the prevention of gender-based violence with the Australian government’s Office for Youth — which, he said, always offers psychological support and has members of the team on hand to debrief. Although it comes with risks, for Mihajlović, the advocacy “pays off when you see that you've changed someone's life or when you've changed a policy that affected a certain group of people.” All agreed that including young people in advocacy can contribute to tangible change. That’s why it’s so important for organizations to better support advocates when engaging them from a young age, Chaerani said. Surface-level interaction is no longer enough, Wijsen added. Organizations must “look to young people as serious stakeholders” and “support young people and a young generation consistently, over time.” Read more for advice on how global development organization’s can ethically engage youth advocates in their work.