MsUnderstoodUK

I have been able to vote since I was 16 and I truly believe it creates more politically minded and motivated individuals. This is why I think that the UK should heed the example of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and lower the voting age to 16. However, over 1.5 million young people my age are still being denied the right to vote across the UK. Therefore, regardless of their interest, politics remains something to be reserved for an exclusive group, something that they must wait until they are ‘old enough’ to participate in on an official level. Despite the fact that, once you turn 16, you are, by law, granted the autonomy to consent to a sexual relationship, make the decision to leave your family home, and be held to justice should you break the law. These legal rights and responsibilities surely demonstrate that turning 16 marks a transition from the dependence and shelter of being a child into the world of adulthood, where you must make choices for yourself, and are trusted to understand the difference between right and wrong. By the age of 17, you are permitted to operate heavy machinery on public roads, but, in the eyes of the law, you are still incapable of making a single political decision that is worth listening to. Yet, the moment you turn 18, after years of political ignorance and insignificance, you are, overnight, now a fully politicised citizen of the UK, whose voice must and will be heard - isn’t it fantastic?

I’d like to make it clear that I fully appreciate this issue does not concern all 16 year olds. Of course, many 16 and 17 year olds are very passionate about politics, and long for the day when their voice will be heard, whose right to vote they consider a privilege which should not be taken for granted. Equally, there are many people over the age of 18 who are acutely unpolitical, and do not use their vote even though they can. This isn’t a collective cry for political freedom, it is a personal one, but one that I know resonates with many, young and not so young people across the UK. Unfortunately, for some young people in the UK and beyond, whether or not they possess the right to vote is of little consequence to them. Yet, from my perspective, this is the issue that needs to be addressed directly, and we can start by lowering the voting age.

Worryingly, I feel that the lack of motivation to vote present in some, but not all, young people is only spurred on by icons like Russell Brand who, in interview with Jeremy Paxman, broadcast a message of organised political indifference to a whole generation of young would-be voters. Instead of using his platform as a role model to so many impressionable young people to politically empower and engage with them, Brand has rather perpetuated the myth that voting is ‘not going to make a difference’. This only irresponsibly encourages the feeling of futility and insignificance that prevents so many young people from engaging with politics.

So, if they aren’t going to use their vote anyway, why should we bother giving it to them?

An excellent, but stupid question. Of course, simply lowering the voting age is not the whole solution to politicising an entire generation of young people, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it. If politics isn’t brought into the forefront of youth consciousness at this early stage, it is obvious that young people will feel disillusioned with the political system. Lowering the voting age is the only way of there even being the slightest chance of increasing the electorate and politicising the next generation, but it isn’t enough. More needs to be done consistently at home, in schools, and at youth centres in order to politically motivate young individuals. And I’m not talking about having some ex-politician try to ‘make politics cool’ by talking about legalising marijuana, or licensing hours, because those are the only things that the youth of today are bothered by. There needs to be serious, contemporary structures in place to prioritise young people’s political education, with the aim of actually making them see the value of their vote, not dissuading them further.

This being said, the recent Scottish referendum saw 100,000 16 and 17 year olds registering to vote for the first time, completely undermining the view that at this age, young people are not mature enough to engage with political decisions. These switched-on and political young individuals clearly demonstrated that they do have a political voice, which they are not prepared to see ignored.

This notion of moving forward was highlighted in Jinan Younis’ keynote speech where she emphasised how “it’s clear that things need to change, but when the change that needs to happen is so big it seems hard to imagine how we could ever achieve this. But what I’ve realised through these years is that people listen.” She went on to say “We have the power and responsibility to make a change. My experiences are those of one young woman; if we collated all the experiences of the women in this room, it would be too many to ignore. We all have a voice, and we’re all capable of making a difference.” Listening to young women and girls and giving them the space and encouragement to speak out is what ‘Our Version of Events’ was all about and many girls and young women commented on the event saying they “Felt comfortable to speak out and say my views.” And that it was a “Positive and inspirational day. I learnt a lot - I’m now even more ready to make changes and create a difference.”

One young woman, Lisa Fontanelle, has decided to set up her own event in the new year inspired by the conference. In her own words she explains what the event is about: “I am in the process of setting up an event called WOW, which stands for ‘Women of Worth’. The idea is to celebrate influential women in the workplace and so far we’ve got some really inspiring and successful young women lined up to speak, be it an author, an MP or an engineer.  We’re planning to have activities, and there will be a wall of inspirational women throughout history depicted in comic strip form which my friend and I are currently working on.” Lisa said she found the day “a real eye opener” and the Q&A session with our panelists made a particular impact: “Before the conference I thought feminism was all about women who hate men. But listening to people speak at the conference I came to realise that actually it’s about women who want the same rights as men and want to be equal. Feminism should be about us as women empowering other women: we are too quick to bring each other down when we should be coming together.”

One of the main themes to come out of the conference was the word feminism and its meaning for different people. The media paints a confusing picture: some women who come out as feminists are greeted positively as a ‘fresh-face of feminism’, whereas others are slated for being ‘tokenistic’ and missing the point. And the voices of women who seek to advance a more inclusive and intersectional feminism are often very underrepresented and ignored in the mainstream media (See Reni Eddo-Lodge or Kimberle Crenshaw for a wider discussion of intersectional feminism). As it was for Lisa, a highlight for many of the young women and girls who attended the conference was the Q&A session between the young women and girls and the panel members, made up of Akima Thomas (Clinical Director of the Women and Girls Network), Dinah Cox, Baljit Ubhey, Alison Wheeler (Participation Officer for the Office of the Children's Commissioner) and Carlene Firmin. Both the young women and girls and the panel members commented that they enjoyed the interesting and intergenerational discussion. One of the questions asked was ‘Would you describe yourself as a feminist and why?’ There were a variety of different responses, with the main message being that there is no prescribed model for being a feminist. Despite feminist often being seen as synonymous with man-hating 'ugly' women who wear comfy shoes and don’t care about their appearance, what the women on the panel showed us is that feminism can be for everyone. Some feminists shave, some feminists don’t; some feminists wear high heels and makeup, some feminists don’t; some feminists get involved in big campaigns and shouting at politicians, others challenge patriarchal stereotypes in a quieter individual way - there is no right or wrong. Despite the bad press that the word gets, if you believe in establishing and defending equal social, political and economic rights for women then there’s no reason you can’t identify with the word or the movement, it’s not an exclusive club after all!

In an interview following the conference, Dinah Cox describes her feminist roots: “When I was young I read lots of books and in the books the boys did really interesting things, and the girls had shit rubbish things to do so I thought I wanted to be a boy! But then I realised that it wasn’t being a girl that was the problem, it was society’s view of what a girl was supposed to be that was the problem. And so I started to see that other, older women had similar views and that there was this thing called feminism out there and so I read up more and more about this, and saw that by organising and joining with others and giving it a name you empower yourself and the other people around you and so I then I decided that I was a feminist.” Dinah added that for her a central tenet of feminism must be intersectionality: “There’s an important element about race and gender and where they overlap. As a black woman, I think it’s important to identify who you are yourself, and then organise and work with groups of people who share the oppression that you’re under to overcome it. To me it’s not just about being a woman, it’s about being a black woman, about how others identify us and use those things against us, when in fact they are amazing things and they are things we should celebrate and that makes me proud of being a black woman.”

Lisa found Dinah’s comments very inspiring, saying “what she said totally resonated with me. I liked the honesty with which everyone spoke about these issues.” Dinah herself said that on the day her inspiration came from the young women facilitating and attending the conference: “Asaybi (from Birmingham Empowerment Project) was  doing such great work in bringing on the men and boys and educating them as well as giving a voice to young women..The Girlguiding movement has changed since my day and seems much more forward thinking...Carlene (Firmin), I think she’s an amazing person and I find her very inspirational.” Carlene’s first boss was Dinah and she in turn learnt a lot from Dinah who really encouraged her to develop and grow her ideas. Asaybi, who was an intern at MsUnderstood said she found the whole day inspiring, “I loved hearing different views on the term ‘feminism’ and how each speaker explained how they are a feminist in their own right [with or without the label]. But what I loved most was hearing all the positive works women and girls have been doing in the UK.”

‘Our Version of Events’ was a celebration. It was a celebration that there is growing recognition and support of the need to address gender-based violence against girls and young women. It was a celebration of the girls and young women who campaign tirelessly for positive change and who are getting somewhere with their goals. It was a celebration of youth, identity and what being a girl or young woman in today’s society really means. And it was a celebration of what is to come - watch this space.

Here we are at @MsUnderstoodUK conference campaigning for our rights! #girlzrule #OurVersion14 pic.twitter.com/trqN7ETcYw

— BeSexPositive (@BeSexPositive)

October 11, 2014

Lisa Fontanelle and friend at the conference.

@MsUnderstoodUK #OurVersion2014 loving the talks, discussions and hoola hooping!!! pic.twitter.com/35lFZkwQOS

— Paris Black (@Paris__Black)

October 11, 2014

Paris, a previous intern shows off her hula-hooping skills!

The Q&A session in the main chamber of the town hall

Petition for compulsory sex and relationships education in schools by the End Violence Against Women coalition and the Everyday Sexism Project

The End Violence Against Women coalition and the Everyday Sexism Project have teamed up to create a petition calling on the party leaders to “Commit to making sex and relationships education in schools compulsory, to include sexual consent, healthy and respectful relationships, gender stereotypes and online pornography.” The petition focuses on the damaging, highly sexualised and sexist culture in which children grow up and how popular culture can have a huge impact on children and young people’s perceptions of what constitutes a healthy sexual (or non-sexual) relationship. We live in a world where media such as music videos, advertising and films continually portray women as sexualised and dehumanised and often show men as aggressive and even abusive, therefore normalising these gender stereotypes and perpetuating gender-based violence. The petition argues that SRE needs to be an essential part of the curriculum to challenge negative stereotypes and to increase knowledge and awareness of positive sexual relationships.

The End Violence Against Women and Girls Coalition Prevention Network

Alongside the petition, this network, made up of a number of organisations that have broad specialist and frontline knowledge on the situation for women and girls in this country, have recently released a factsheet designed to support schools in England to prevent violence and abuse of girls. The factsheet references a 2013 Ofsted report that found that 40% of schools had weak Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education and that consequentially pupils in these schools “had gaps in their knowledge and skills, most commonly in the serious safeguarding areas of personal safety in relation to sex and relationships.” The factsheet references several facts pertaining to the levels of violence amongst children and young people and how disproportionately this affects women and girls. Containing information about child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation, domestic violence and teen relationship abuse, female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, online abuse, pornography, rape and sexual assault, ‘sexting’, sexual harassment and stalking, the factsheet aims to fill in the gaps in the knowledge and skills these children learn at school. The factsheet underlines how a whole school approach to SRE and gender equality could really help to challenge the normalisation of gender-based violence and prevent abuse. This would be achieved by acknowledging the extent of violence against women and girls, challenging notions of male sexual entitlement, preventing abusive attitudes and behaviours, unpicking harmful stereotypes that place responsibility on girls to protect themselves from violence, and addressing the gendered environment in which young people form attitudes and navigate relationships.

Girlguiding campaign: Girls Matter, our Calls for Change

Of course the voices that really need to be heard throughout this discussion are those of young women themselves: enter the Girlguiding movement. Girlguiding is the largest charity for girls and young women in the UK with over half a million members and they have recently produced a campaign to call on politicians to make young women’s voices a priority in the 2015 election. Their campaign comprises of 8 demands, including; wider representation in government and in policy consultation; an end to sexual bullying and children’s exposure to sexualised content in the media; an increased focus on girls rights in international development; and modernised SRE and gender equality to be taught in all schools. The campaign has been sparked by the results of their annual Girls’ Attitudes Survey, which found that girls are growing increasingly frustrated about the amount of sexual content in the media and sexual harassment on the streets and in the playground and want to bring about positive change by petitioning the government to pledge their support and respect these demands in politics.

It is ignorant for parents to still believe that their children are not participating in sexual relationships at young ages. The age of consent in the UK is 16; however, a NHS survey found that 27% of women are having sex before they reach the age of consent. Teenage parent and Doctor, David Rivera says that “teenaged sex has been around as long as there have been teenagers”, therefore, instead of parents trying to encourage their children to stay abstinent we should be educating young girls on the types of contraception available to them.

If we don’t educate girls about contraception they are likely to go behind their parents back and find out on their own. In 2012, parents were shocked to find out that school nurses had given birth-control implants and jabs to girls aged 13 and 16 more than 900 times in the past two years. By providing young girls with information on contraception we can be sure that they are being given the right information. However, it appears to be fair to educate young children from the age of 11 on the use of condoms and protective sex from the male’s side; yet neglecting female methods of protection. This reinforces patriarchal behaviour and influences males from a young age to believe they are superior to females as they have been educated with a choice on using protection or not. This is evident in schools as male students begin to take charge within classrooms and playgrounds and feel that sex is mainly their decision as well as whether or not to use protection. With this mind frame they go on to develop sexist view points, treat females differently both within and outside the school environment even to the point where they may feel as if domestic violence is acceptable.

There are many advantages of teaching girls about Contraception. For instance, contraception puts more power and control into females as they are able to make their own decision for their bodies. It also puts less dependence on the male to put on a condom which allows the female in the relationship to gain a sense of control that historically men would have regarding sex. By equally educating children once they enter secondary school on protected sex, it allows children to become well-informed regarding issues such as rape and the importance of such issues being tackled.

Contraception within the school curriculum however is not the only topic girls feel excluded around, the curriculum itself poses issues. I think it is fair to say that since the 1988 Education reform act girls have been more accepted in the education system. It showed clear indication of women being given more chances to achieve with the introduction of coursework for example. However, it can be believed by many feminists that education is reproducing gender inequality and widening the current gap that already exists throughout society. It’s evident that there was a clear increase in career ambitions by females. This could have been influenced by two things, educational success from coursework or more modern socialisation from parents and the media. So perhaps education is an agent of secondary socialisation that actually helps to enforce patriarchy.

It seems as though the education system is patriarchal and dominated by men, just like the work force is. The ‘hidden’ curriculum is a major source of gender socialisation; within education, various subjects are aimed at a certain gender group. Although concepts such as “GIST” exist, standing for: girls in science and technology, which was brought about to attract female students into subjects that have been historically dominated by men, the current gap in gender inequality still seems to exist. It’s been noticed that on events such as induction days and open days where students are to pick subjects, those that are stereotypically more ‘fitted’ for males are spoken about by male teachers which make females less likely to sign up.

Similarly, subjects like food technology and textiles open day sessions are headed my female teachers, making male students feel as though they would almost be judged as being far too ‘feminine’ if they were to sign up to such a subject. For example cooking would be aimed at girls doing house work. While most schools now title this course – ‘Food Technology’ the subject is still designed to 'snare' girls into adopting a mode of behaviour a patriarchal society accept and that the gap between girls and boys is still there in today’s society. The gap is fuelled by the fact subjects are seen as more masculine such as resistant materials and physics are valued significantly higher in the world of work than humanitarian based subjects which females are more guided towards. It can be argued that this underlying sense of gender labelled subjects should be changed in order for female students to achieve the highest they can and progress onto higher education with an equal position to males.