Young women and girls in Australia are more conscious of the harmful impact of sexism than ever, according to new research.
The She Speaks study, conducted by the Young Women’s Christian Association, found that 88% of young women surveyed said women experience discrimination in Australia and 79% of women said gender discrimination affects them personally in their day-to-day lives.
“These high numbers are a result of the fact that young women are now having everyday conversations about how our society privileges male experiences and diminishes women. Young women are more aware than ever that gender based stereotypes are harmful to everyone,” YWCA executive director Caroline Lambert told Womens’ Agenda.
“The way these young women saw the country treat Prime Minister Gillard galvanised action, and young women and girls are sick of everyday sexism.”
Young women are also particularly concerned about the impact of violence on Australian women and children. 73% of participants said violence affects the everyday lives of women in Australia and 30% said they did not know how to seek help when they find themselves in a violent relationship. Many young women also said they were unable to identify unhealthy or abusive behaviours in relationships.
79% of young women said they want to be leaders and drive change towards gender equality, but a significant barrier to this is that they do not have positive role models in Australia. Only 23% of women said they saw effective leadership in Australian public life.
This increased awareness of gender discrimination in Australia also led the women and girls surveyed to make strong demands of Australian leaders to act the combat sexism in everyday life.
“Overwhelmingly, these women and girls said they needed more support. They asked for government programs that can develop their leadership skills and give them access to leadership roles. They want to see our leaders taking tangible action to combat gender stereotypes and eliminate discrimination on a national level,” Lambert said.
A group of young women are presenting the findings of the study to MPs in parliament this Wednesday. They will be making three formal requests of the federal government: to fund early intervention programs at primary and secondary school level to help young women identify unhealthy behaviours in relationships, to fund a program to increase family friendly practices in all Australian workplaces, and to fund comprehensive sex education programs at a national level so that young women can be informed about their reproductive rights.
The participants also called on the Prime Minister to take stronger action to reduce gender discrimination in Australia.
“These women and girls have made a strong demand of the Prime Minister to do better when it comes to reducing gender inequality. The Prime Minister has international human rights obligations to act on this issue and now has a grassroots demand from his own constituents as well,” Lambert said.