Girls feel boys get better treatment than them

GIRLS in the modern-day UK feel unsafe in public, held back by sexism in school and that boys are treated better than they are, according to a new study.

Their opinions on issues like Brexit are not heard and overall they feel “fed-up and frustrated” with empty messages of female empowerment, according to a Plan International UK survey of more than 1,000 girls and young women aged 14-21.

A total of 60% of girls felt that males are treated better than females in the UK, and 57% said they had been in a situation where they believe they would have got better treatment if they were a boy.

Of the girls questioned, 72% had spotted differences in the way females were treated in the media, while 41% noticed a difference at school and 22% said there were differences at home, the State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2020 report found.

Among the issues raised were feeling unsafe in public, being hampered by stereotypical subject choices and sexual harassment in the classroom, believing that their opinions are not heard and undergoing an anxiety-inducing pressure to look a certain way.

Rose Caldwell, chief executive of Plan International UK, described it as “extremely saddening, but not surprising” that girls still feel disempowered, while the NSPCC said “far too many” girls are being harassed and work needs to start in primary schools to help society protect them from abuse.

Blackpool was named as the toughest place to be a girl in the UK based on a range of life quality factors including child poverty and life expectancy.