Trigger warning: This article contains references to child abuse, safeguarding, and barriers to disclosure.  

How do you describe something when the words don’t exist? 

This question lies at the heart of Finding Words, a major Ministry of Justice-funded project exploring how Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi-speaking communities understand and communicate experiences of child abuse. Bringing together academics, linguists, safeguarding specialists, practitioners, interpreters and survivors, the project examines how language can influence disclosure, understanding and access to support.  

Among those contributing to the project is Regent’s EDI Fellow, Sabah Kaiser, whose work spans safeguarding, survivor engagement, equality, diversity and inclusion, research, and community interpreting.  

For Sabah, Finding Words is far more than translation. 

“People often assume that language simply exists and needs to be translated”, she explains. “This project asks much deeper questions about where language comes from, whose voices shaped it, what meanings it carries, and whether it genuinely serves the people who need it most.” 

The project grew from a longstanding concern shared by many safeguarding and interpreting practitioners. While services increasingly recognise the importance of cultural competence, far less attention has been paid to whether people actually have the appropriate words to describe experiences of abuse. 

Sabah explains that people are often left choosing between technical terminology that feels unfamiliar and inaccessible, or words that carry powerful associations of shame, blame and stigma.  

For Sabah, this project is deeply personally, as well as professionally, meaningful, because it resonates with her own childhood experiences. “As a child, I remember knowing something wasn’t right but struggling to find the words to explain it to my mum. Looking back, I realise the issue wasn’t simply translation; it was that the language available didn’t always provide safe, accurate or dignified ways to describe experiences of abuse.” 

Rather than simply identifying direct translations, the Finding Words team explored the historical development of language itself. Drawing on linguistic traditions spanning Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and regional influences, they examined how concepts relating to the body, consent, exploitation and abuse have evolved over centuries, before testing potential terminology with communities, practitioners, and those with lived experience.  

Sabah’s contribution to the project has been extensive. Working as a consultant with the CSA Centre, she undertook historical and etymological language research, reviewed safeguarding terminology, contributed to ethics discussions, authored supporting papers, and helped analyse findings emerging from community engagement. Throughout the project, she sought to ensure the work always remained grounded in the lived realities of the communities it aims to support. 

One of the discoveries that resonated most strongly with her was that the project was not about inventing new language, but uncovering and re-examining language that already existed. 

“At times, the process felt less like translation and more like linguistic archaeology,” she reflects, describing how the team carefully examined layers of history, culture and social change to better understand how people communicate experiences of harm today. 

Alongside the research itself, Sabah speaks warmly about the collaborative nature of the project, praising colleagues from the CSA Centre and partner organisations for their openness, generosity and shared commitment to improving safeguarding practice. Researchers, translators, community organisations, academics and practitioners each brought different perspectives, creating what she describes as genuinely collaborative endeavour. 

The project will culminate in a formal launch later this year, accompanied by a publication outlining its methodology and findings. Sabah will also host a seminar through the NWG Network exploring the project’s implications for safeguarding practice.  

Reflecting on the project’s lasting significance, she hopes its impact will extend far beyond research. 

“Finding Words gave me the opportunity to explore questions that had stayed with me since childhood. If this project helps even a small number of children, families or communities today find the words they need to seek help, be heard and be understood, then it will have achieved something profoundly important.”