JAVITA NARANG
Javita Narang is a chartered psychologist, mental health advocate, and filmmaker whose career has been driven by one core belief: every child deserves to feel safe, heard, and valued. For over two decades, she has worked internationally to support survivors of childhood sexual abuse, trauma, and exploitation — combining her expertise in psychology, with a deep personal commitment to social justice, healing and mental wellbeing.
Her professional journey has taken her from academia, statuary, and charity/grassroots organisations in the UK to projects across Asia and Africa, working with survivors of sexual abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking, and unsafe migration.
Javita has partnered with global agencies such as the UN (UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF), Save the Children, and Freedom Fund, but what inspires her most are the individual stories of resilience and recovery she encounters in her work.
These experiences fuel her dedication to ensuring that services and systems are gender-sensitive, trauma-informed, culturally relevant, and centred on the voices of survivors themselves.
Alongside her professional practice, Javita uses filmmaking and storytelling to bring to light hidden social issues, amplify voices left unheard often, and spark conversations that can lead to change. As a film maker, she has worked on various projects such as a short film titled ‘Eniha’ (human trafficking), Hidden in Silence (documentary film and training tool on childhood sexual abuse and service provision within the Scottish Ethnic Minorities), Pinky (short film on domestic violence), and animation adverts on mental health support. She is currently working on a documentary film on suicide prevention.
Javita is a multidisciplinary professional with a BA (Hons.) Psychology, Masters in Social Work, and PhD (Clinical Psychology). She has over 25 years of work experience which involves services to the survivors, developing and delivering training programmes, teaching, public speaking including national and international conferences and webinars, evaluating services and developing mental health programmes, research, advocacy and policy development. She has worked on a number of publications including academic journals, policy briefings, handbooks and training modules.
As a Board Member and Trustee Safeguarding Lead at MAF, Javita is passionate about challenging silence, breaking stigma, and helping to build a community where children are protected from harm and survivors are met with compassion, dignity, and hope while ensuring that charities working on such critical, significant causes are supported.