The number of girls who feel unsafe because of sexism has more than doubled in the last 10 years, according to a revealing new survey of girlguides.
The latest Girls’ Attitudes Survey by the organisation shows 59% of 13-21-year-olds have seen or experienced sexual harassment and 47% of 11-21-year-olds feel less safe because of sexism and misogyny – a significant rise from 17% 10 years ago,
Shockingly 77% of girls and young women aged 7-21 have experienced online harm in the last year and more than one in five aged between just seven and 10 have seen rude images online – doubling since 2021.
The survey also shows more than half of girls aged 7-21 have received negative comments about their appearance with two in three aged between 11-21 saying they’d like to lose weight.
Only 1:4 girls feel very confident in their life and the same number feel confident about their future.
The organisation said: “This year’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey shows how the pressures of being a girl are felt more intensely today than 10 years ago. These pressures are amplified as girls get older.
“At the same time, our research shows pressures of being a girl are being felt at a younger age. Girls as young as seven are increasingly feeling they have to look and behave differently because they’re a girl.”
Girls told:
• Their experience of sexism is making them less confident and feel less safe
• Negative thoughts about how they look dominate their everyday lives and translate into a lack of confidence and poorer wellbeing
• Anxiety and low self-esteem are prevalent amongst girls they know
• It’s less safe online, with more girls receiving unwanted sexual images and harassment
• The cost-of-living crisis has negatively affected their mental health and wellbeing.
However, girlguiding said: “Against all odds, the organisation’s survey reveals girls are hopeful and curious for what’s to come.”
However, an enterprise company which works with vulnerable teenage girls in the UK said the survey “should send shockwaves through every corner of society”. Founder of Girls Out Loud Jane Kenyon said: “What we are seeing is nothing short of a national emergency. And if we don’t act now, the damage will be irreversible.
“We’re now seeing girls as young as seven facing a confidence crisis and it’s only getting worse.
“The double punch of sexism and an increasingly toxic online environment is destroying their self-worth before they’ve even had a chance to find it.
“How can we ignore the fact that nearly half of girls now feel unsafe simply because of their gender? This is more than double what it was 10 years ago.
“We cannot accept that this is just ‘the way things are’. That sexism has been normalised to this level is horrifying.
“The fact that more than half of girls have experienced sexual harassment, whether online or in-person, shows that these issues aren’t theoretical.
“No girl should feel scared to walk down the street, go to school, or open her phone.
“Yet our young girls are being attacked, belittled and shamed on a daily basis, and if they manage to escape physical harassment, they’re still confronted with damaging AI-driven images and cyberstalking.
“It’s no wonder that so many are reporting cripplingly low confidence and spiralling mental health.”
She added: “The time to act is now. We need to see this for what it is: an urgent crisis.
“We can’t keep dismissing their struggles or expecting them to just deal with it.
“These girls are our future, and it’s on all of us to stand up and ensure they have the space, safety and support needed to thrive. They deserve nothing less.”