Six issues girls in the UK feel hold them back
Every girl should feel safe, be able to live with joy and aim high for their future.
Yet globally girls are not experiencing the progress on gender equality they've been promised – including in the UK.
Plan International surveyed nearly 3,000 girls and young women to find out what it’s like growing up in the UK. The findings are part of our State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2024 report.
Turns out, it’s tough for girls. With some places notably tougher than others. Our research ranked North East Lincolnshire as the toughest place to be a girl in the UK.
But no matter where girls live in the UK, they are still being held back from living the healthy, happy lives they deserve.
Here are six of the issues girls and young women growing up in the UK flagged in our research.
1. Girls feel the pressure of gender norms
Sometimes people look at me and say, ‘You can’t do these things just because you’re a girl’, which I have experienced my whole life.
Tilly, 13, Blackpool
Girls are taught they can be anything, and society has promised them equality. However, these promises haven’t been met.
Society has failed to engage with the root causes of inequality, gender norms and stereotypes in many areas of life. As a result, girls still feel pressure to act, look and conform in impossible ways.
47% of girls and young women agree that expectations about how girls and women should act and what they should be hold them back.
2. Girls feel unsafe in public
If I'm walking home at night, I'll always give one of my friends my live location or I'll message or call someone, so they know if I'm getting home.
Genna, 15, Blackpool
Girls and young women said they do not feel safe — particularly in public spaces, when they are online, and in leisure settings. Nor do they trust institutions like the police and politicians to take gender-based violence seriously.
93% of girls and young women do not feel completely safe in public places.
Girls in the UK have already fought hard to tackle public sexual harassment. Through our Crime Not Compliment campaign, in partnership with Our Streets Now, girls helped bring about the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023. But this new law is just the start – there is clearly more to do.
3. Girls feel ill-informed about relationships and sex
When schools treat sex and relationships education as if it is normal, which it is, it becomes less of a big deal and more of just common practice.
Evie, 14, Blackpool
Comprehensive relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) teaches young people what they need to know to be safe, have healthy relationships and be happy. But girls and young women said they wanted more and better RSHE.
Girls also feel that boys and young men are especially not being taught what they need to know about healthy relationships and sex. They flagged concerns about the growing rise in misogyny and the repercussions that gendered attitudes, behaviours and expectations had on them as girls and young women.
Only 56% of girls and young women feel they’ve been taught what they need to know about healthy relationships and sex.
4. Girls feel unprepared for the future
I don’t know what I want to do and I’m scared there aren’t a lot of opportunities and time is running out to decide.
Survey participant, 18, Blackburn with Darwen.
Girls and young women feel their education is letting them down in preparing them for the future. They said they felt held back, unprepared and put at a disadvantage compared to boys and young men. Many also cited worrying about the cost-of-living crisis and an employment market rife with sexism.
Girls want their places of study to better prepare them with skills and understanding for adult life, including the working world.
Just 54% of girls agree that their education has, or is, preparing them well for their future.
5. Girls feel unhappy about their mental health
I have struggled a lot in the past and at current with my mental health but there should be more support for young women and for them to be treated seriously.
Ella, 15, Blackpool
Girls and young women feel conflicted about their mental health. They feel positive about their ability to share how they feel with each other, whilst at the same time feeling a lot of pressure to be and act a certain way.
Girls’ mental health has worsened since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many girls and young women talked about the prevalence of suicide and self-harm, disordered eating, and use of drugs, nicotine, and alcohol among their peer groups.
Only 2 in 5 girls and young women are happy with their mental health.
6. Girls feel unseen and unheard
People think we're still very young so we shouldn't be having strong opinions and shouldn't share them because they think we don't know what we're talking about.
Olivia, 15, Blackpool
Girls are tired of empty words of empowerment. They want to see real tangible change in their lives. But they have little faith and trust in politicians and institutions to make this a reality – especially on the issues that matter to them like gender equality and the climate emergency.
Even though girls do not feel listened to, they still want to be involved in making their community and world a better place.
60% of girls and young women said they do not trust politicians at all.
What’s life like for girls near you?
While these concerns are shared by many girls and young women across the UK, the outcomes for them vary depending on where they live.
Find out how the situation compares for girls in your local area.
Let’s not let another generation of girls go without realising equality. It's time to do more and demand better.
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In the pictures: All the girls and young women pictured took part in the research workshops that informed our State of Girls Rights in the UK report. Special thanks to them all.