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Blackpool is the ‘toughest’ place to be a girl in the UK, study finds

Written by on 20/01/2020

Blackpool is the “toughest” place to be a girl in the UK, research has found. 

A study looked at the variation in rights, life and employment outcomes across Britain, for 14 to 21-year olds.

The Lancashire seaside town was found to have the biggest gap between the sexes.

“Blackpool from the forefront is lovely, very family orientated,” 15-year-old Katie, who lives there, said.

“But if you go into the back streets, you’ll see it has eight out of the 10 most deprived neighbourhoods in Britain. There is a lot of cat-calling and street harassment.

“And as a girl, if you want to go into those places, you have to think, ‘how do I have to change, to adjust to that?’

“What should I wear? Do you go a certain way to go to school? It shouldn’t be happening in the 21st century,” she added.

Rose Caldwell, chief executive of Plan International UK that carried out the research, told Sky News: “I think many people assume that in 2020 girls and boys are treated equally.

“It is really shocking to find out that, when we listen to girls, that’s not the experiences that they are finding.”

Researchers also spoke to 1,000 girls about their experiences of gender inequality.

It revealed that:

  • Six out of 10 girls thought they were treated worse than boys, just because of their gender
  • 72% noticed this treatment in the media
  • 41% noticed this treatment at home
  • 22% noticed this treatment at school

Deborah Terras from the Washington Group, which organises an International Women’s Day in Blackpool, said there are “a lot of good initiatives” to help young women, but true gender equality can only come if everyone is working to make a difference.

“While we’re nurturing and supporting young women, there has to be those conversations with young men about how do we treat each other.

“We’ve got to take this from the community, from education, from parents, from families, and also in particular from the young women themselves.

“They have to take some responsibility and actually say ‘how can I have an influence on my future?'”

(c) Sky News 2020: Blackpool is the ‘toughest’ place to be a girl in the UK, study finds