Isabella Lanza Turner
“Children’s creativity and insight reveal the cracks in our systems and the paths towards something better. Meaningful research begins when we recognise children not as subjects of study, but as partners in change.”
Isabella Lanza Turner
Technical Advisor
Isabella and her work at Terre des Hommes
Isabella Lanza Turner is a Researcher and Technical Advisor at Terre des Hommes Netherlands. She leads multi-country studies on the drivers and consequences of child sexual exploitation and examines how environmental, systemic, and technological changes affect children’s wellbeing and protection. Her work bridges research and practice, using participatory, child-centred, and intersectional approaches to strengthen prevention, protection, and recovery for children affected by exploitation and crisis. Her research spans diverse contexts, from children navigating the impacts of drought and displacement in the Kenya–Ethiopia borderlands, to those exploring identity and safety in online spaces in Bangladesh, Bolivia, and the Netherlands. Across these studies, she works to ensure that evidence directly informs programmes and policies that uphold children’s rights and amplify their voices.
About Isabella
Isabella’s background is in Psychology, and early in her career she focused on understanding how people cope with adversity and trauma. Over time, she realised that individual wellbeing cannot be separated from the systems that shape it. This inspired her to pursue a Master’s in International Development, where she began exploring how social, economic, and environmental factors influence children’s lives, and how mental health and psychosocial support can be strengthened within broader protection systems. Her work now brings these perspectives together. She is particularly interested in how climate change, digitalisation, and social inequality are transforming childhood, and how research can help build more responsive and inclusive systems of care. For Isabella, research is a driver of change: a way to ensure that children’s voices and realities directly inform the policies and systems that affect them.
