Bringing Survivor Involvement into the Mainstream

This chapter offers a much-needed summary of the relationship between involvement of ‘lived expertise’ and the production of safe, impactful research about sexual violence and abuse. It examines the theoretical roots of involving patients, the public and more specifically, survivors of sexual violence and abuse in co-producing research. Drawing on the Multi-disciplinary Evaluation of Sexual Assault Referral Centres for better Health (MESARCH) study as a case study, ‘Bringing survivor involvement into the mainstream’ demonstrates the methodological and practical implications of survivor involvement. It critically examines the risks and benefits of engaging with survivors across the research process in relation to the quality of research in this field and what involvement means for survivors as participants and as architects of research.