Most girls and young women do not feel completely safe in public – survey
JUST one in 20 girls and young women feels completely safe in public spaces across the country, according to new research.
Measures including education, employment and life expectancy were all taken into account, the children’s charity Plan International UK said it its report.
Its State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2024 report also looked at factors such as the gender pay gap and uptake of science, technology and maths subjects at A-level, in order to rank how local authority areas performed.
The report rated Derby in the bottom third of toughest places to be a girl, claiming they face violence and harassment, that 38% of children live in poverty and 23% leave school without good grades.
The top performing areas were East Dunbartonshire in Scotland, Sutton in south London, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, Lisburn and Castlereagh in Northern Ireland, and South Oxfordshire.
In its ranking, no area scored above 80 out of 100 points, which the charity said showed “there is clear room for improvement for every council and community in supporting girls’ rights”.
The report has called for tackling inequality and ending discrimination to be at the heart of the new Government’s plans, as well as sustainable long-term funding for local government.
It stated: “As no area comes remotely close to 100 (in the index), we can see there is clear room for improvement for every council and community in supporting girls’ rights. While councils aim to provide as much support as they can, given the financial challenges they face, there are structural factors which prevent them from delivering as well as they potentially could across a range of aspects of girls’ lives.
“These challenges need central action and a clear, long-term settlement from central governments to enable councils to support girls’ lives and rights.”
As well as the rankings, the report surveyed 2,963 girls and women aged 12-21 across the UK, which Plan
International said was the biggest survey in the report’s eight-year history. Among the findings were that only 5% feel completely safe in public spaces such as on public transport or on the street, while 9% feel completely safe in online spaces, and 11% said they feel completely safe in leisure spaces.
A a fifth (20%) do not trust the police at all, rising to almost a quarter of 17 to 21 year-olds.
Little over half (54%) feel they have the same educational and employment opportunities as boys or men their age, while less than a fifth (17%) agree that boys know or understand enough about the challenges and issues girls face in today’s world.
Six in 10 said they do not trust politicians while only one in four feel involved in decisions about the way the country is run.
Rose Caldwell, chief executive at Plan International UK, said: “Tired of empty words of empowerment, girls want to see real tangible change in their lives. There is room for all communities to better support girls’ rights but they need urgent support from the Government to deliver better outcomes for girls.
“Our report should sound the alarm for all politicians and leaders. Girls want to have their voices heard. The new UK Government must do more to create meaningful change that tackles inequality and ends discrimination for girls.”