Scouts Scotland is celebrating the contribution of its female members to mark International Women's Day
A youth movement is challenging the stereotype that all Scouts are boys.
This International Women’s Day (IWD), Scouts Scotland is celebrating the amazing women and girls in the organisation. The theme for IWD is #BetterforBalance and is about challenging stereotypes, with Scouts Scotland is challenging the belief that the Scouts is just for boys.
Women have always been an important part of the Scouts as leaders, but became integrated as Venture Scouts in 1976. Scouts has been fully inclusive for nearly 30 years, and on 1 January 2007 it became compulsory for all groups to ensure provisions were in place to accept girls into all sections.
The organisation has stressed it is open to everyone no matter what gender they identify as.
Sophie (age six), is a Beaver and joined as soon as she was eligible to.
She said: “Beavers is awesome, you get to go to family camp and go outside and get muddy it’s brilliant.”
Anja Johnston is one of Scouts Scotland’s Youth Commissioners, responsible for ensuring that that all of Scouts Scotland’s youth members have their voices heard.
She said: “Girls are equally capable of everything that boys are capable of. Scouts provide vital skills for life for all young people. I know that I feel less anxious when I meet new people down to the skills I’ve learned in the Scouts. I believe that girls should join Scouts so they can break away from the gender stereotypes that they face daily, so they can challenge themselves, try new activities and push their boundaries.”
Katie Docherty is the chief executive of Scouts Scotland, taking on the role in 2016 and becoming the first female in the post.
“It’s amazing how often people still think we are just for boys when in reality around a third of our young members are female and about half of our adult volunteers are female,” she said.
“We provide nearly 40,000 young people in Scotland with fun and adventure while they develop the skills that will help them to succeed in life. This is just as interesting for girls as it is boys, which is why we are the largest co-educational youth movement in Scotland.”
