As The Independent recently reported, children’s charity Plan UK recently released a report called “Because I am a Girl” that draws on new research into the views of thousands of boys and girls aged between 12 and 18, from the UK, India and Africa. It states that “Our families and schools are handing gender inequality, and violence against girls, down through the generations.”’

Some key findings from the study:

• Girls are conditioned to expect less of themselves than boys. Doing better than their male peers at school does not translate into future rewards – women still earn up to 22 percent less than men in most countries in the world, including Britain.
• ONE IN THREE British boys view women politicians as being inferior to men. 34 per cent in Rwanda and 55 percent in India see female politicians as second-rate.

• ONLY LESS THAN HALF of boys in the UK, 52 percent in Rwanda and 61 per cent of boys in India agreed: “It would be good to have the same number of men and women leading top companies.”

• 66% of children in Rwanda and 74% of children in India ”totally agree” that a woman’s most important role is to be a housewife. (Only 11 percent of British children)
• Almost two-thirds of UK boys, however, think that a woman’s most important role is to take care of her home and cook for the family – something less than half of girls agree with. 39 per cent of British boys think that men should have the “final word” at home – compared with 20 per cent of girls.
• 97% per cent of children saying that “parents must take equal responsibility for their children.”
• Globally, 150 million girls and young women under 18 have been raped or sexually assaulted. “The belief that girls and women are somehow inferior – fuels male violence towards them.” 

According to the report, prospects for gender equality will not improve unless boys and men join the fight for equality, change their mindsets and become more involved in family life. The report reveals how sexist attitudes are deeply entrenched among today’s children, and that girls suffer a “double whammy” of discrimination due to their age and sex – leaving them at “the bottom of the social ladder”.

In an example of some of the case studies, Latrell Randeen, 15, (pictured above) from Chingford, England, believes both that “domestic chores should be done by women,” but also that there “should be equal numbers of men and women in top jobs because if a woman goes for a job, she should get it if she’s good enough. I think women are better politicians than men because women do things better, whereas men just rush stuff to get things over and done with.”

We have the chance to make a difference to make a change today with young children. Both boys and girls must believe a) they deserve all the educational, job, etc… opportunities and that b) they have the equal household responsibilities. Society and women will have to begin to make these demands. As Gloria Steinman wrote in The Way We Are…And Will Be, things like free child-care centers “are not for the benefit of “working mothers,” any more than free schools are. They are simply the right of every child.” Equality does not only benefit women, but also our communities at large. The right to equal opportunity is the right of every person and that is part of our mission at Circle of Women to provide girls with the education that they deserve, but also to let them know that they are worthy and deserve and can do great things with the education that they are getting. 

Photo from The Independent.