A group of young women are looking into how girls and women are treated in Scottish schools
An investigation into the bullying and sexual harassment of girls and women in Scottish schools is set to report in the Scottish Parliament later this month.
Young Women Lead is calling on girls and women to engage with their investigation through social media using #ScotSchoolVAWG, online surveys for both pupilsand staff, and focus groups, which will take place this weekend across Scotland.
The investigation is targeting young women and girls, as well as teachers, about their experiences of sexual harassment and violence within the education system.
The evidence gathered will be presented to the Young Women Lead Committee in the Scottish Parliament on 20 April.
The committee, which is chaired by Linda Fabiani MSP, is a mock committee meeting four times this year in the parliament to provide 38 young women from under-represented parts of society an opportunity to learn how the parliament and government works.
The programme is being run by YWCA Scotland after research it carried out in 2015 identified young women need encouragement to come forward for political and representative roles.
It has recruited 38 women aged between 15 and 30 who are from rural and urban areas, with physical and learning disabilities, who experience mental health issues, experience of the care system or domestic abuse.
They are all women who are interested in politics but may have experienced stigma and discrimination as a result of structural inequalities based on their gender, sexual identity, ethnicity and age and as a result are underrepresented in Scottish politics.
Patrycja Kupiec, director of YWCA Scotland, said: “It is beyond inspiring and a real privilege to see the participants take up space at the Scottish Parliament and speak up about the issues they face because of gender inequality.
“Their investigation into violence against women and girls and sexual harassment in Scottish schools is both timely and much needed, and I’m confident their recommendations will bring about a real change.
“Seeing this group of amazing kickass diverse women coming together as one, supporting each other, and driving this project forward makes me really excited and positive about the future.”
People are being encouraged to submit stories anonymously as well as publicly and more information about the focus groups is available here.
