Most girls and young women 'do not feel safe in public spaces', UK study finds

Just one in 20 girls and young women feel completely safe in public spaces across the country and North East Lincolnshire is the toughest place in the UK to be a girl, according to new research from Plan International UK.

Blackpool, Barrow-in-Furness (now Westmorland and Furness), Rochdale and Knowsley – all in the North West of England – made up the rest of the top five toughest places after measures including education, employment and life expectancy were all taken into account, the charity said.

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 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”.

Blackpool was named as the toughest place to be a girl in the UK in the previous report which came out in 2020 but the charity said due to different factors having been considered for the latest research, rankings are not directly comparable.

New factors including feeling safe at night as well as voter turnout mean the most recent report takes a broader view across girls’ lives and is less inherently linked to economic and deprivation indicators, the organisation.

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.”

A spokesman for North East Lincolnshire Council said: “Like many young people across the country, those growing up in our area do face challenges but there are also both tremendous opportunities and exciting plans for the future in North East Lincolnshire.

“We are working hard with our community and our partners to support our young people as they grow, giving them greater opportunities to thrive and succeed.”

They listed among their efforts a focus on improving the attainment level of school leavers, grant funding to support projects with an education and skills focus, and a National Citizen Service-funded project supporting local teenagers with social and employability skills.

Heather Kidd, from the Local Government Association, said: “Many of the disadvantages and barriers to opportunity this report identifies could be improved if councils had the long-term funding needed to provide the essential services that make girls feel safe, empowered, and confident about their futures.

“It is vital, as the report sets out, that councils are able to restore their focus on tackling inequalities at a local level. To do so, the LGA is calling for flexible, multi-year settlements so councils can better understand and address the particular challenges in their places.”