As clocks go back, one in three young Brits fear gender equality is going backwards

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A giant sand artwork has appeared on Blackpool beach warning against ‘turning back the clock’ on women and girls’ rights, as new research reveals one in three young Brits fear progress on gender equality could reverse. 

Commissioned by Plan International UK, the striking 50-metre-wide piece, created by Yorkshire-based artists Sand In Your Eye, shows girls pulling the hands of a clock forward beneath the message: “Girls won’t be forced back in time”.

The work was unveiled as the clocks prepare to go back this weekend — a symbolic reminder, the charity says, that rights and freedoms hard-won over generations are now under threat.

New polling of over 2,000 UK adults by Plan International UK shows a growing sense of backsliding on gender equality: 

• Over a third (34%) of 18–34 year olds believe global progress on gender equality is likely to reverse within their lifetime.
• One in four (26%) people say attitudes towards women and girls have worsened in the past decade - this rises to 31% of women who felt this.
• A quarter (24%) think progress on women and girls’ rights around the world is weak and could be lost 

The findings come amid growing global push back against women and girls’ rights: from bans on girls’ education in Afghanistan, to restrictions on abortion rights in the US and Poland, and rising online misogyny targeting women in public life.

Aneurin, aged 19, member of Plan International UK's Youth Advisory Panel, said: "It's scary to see how we're almost going back in time in terms of gender inequality. I'm particularly concerned with how governments are slashing their overseas aid budget, including the UK, a decision which will have a disproportionate impact on girls and women in areas such as education, and sexual health and reproductive rights."

Rose Caldwell, CEO at Plan International UK, said: “Generations of effort have transformed the world with and for girls, but we’re seeing progress in the UK and around the world stall – and even reverse. This backlash is happening globally. We’re witnessing restrictions on reproductive rights, bans on girls’ education, and a surge in online misogyny that’s silencing women and girls. There is a lot of a rhetoric trying to make us feel divided, but when one girl is pushed back, we all fall behind. 

“This artwork symbolises what we see every day in our work across over eighty countries: in the face of attempts to turn back time and undo years of progress, girls are taking charge and demanding the change they urgently need. But everyone has a role to play in dismantling in what holds girls back, and despite what some figures in public and online are saying, a fairer, more equal future benefits everyone.”

Jennifer, aged 21, member of Plan International UK’s Youth Advisory Panel, said: As a youth activist, I’ve learned that the best way to cope with the overwhelming anticipation of a reversal in attitudes, loss of rights, and decline in gender equality is to dedicate myself to progress and advancement because that is all we can truly do.” 

The sand artwork forms part of Plan International UK’s ongoing campaign to highlight the barriers girls face and to keep equality on the agenda at a time when women’s and girls’ rights are increasingly under attack around the world.

To find out more about how Plan International UK are helping girls to thrive in their communities, visit plan-uk.org/international-day-of-the-girl