Standing on one foot: Creative steps in research engagement

Deciding to undertake 'child trafficking' research with young people directly affected by trafficking brought a number of challenges in the research process. Not least was the difficulty in this kind of research not having been done before, requiring my research to be flexible and exploratory in what might work with this group of young people. Reflections on fieldwork & qualitative methods in accessing and engaging young people are shared, focusing on creative arts-based methods and improvised dance. The use of improvised dance is reflected upon as a specific method that built trust in the research relationship, strengthened social bonding between young people and facilitated research engagement in a very difficult and sensitive subject area.