The White Ribbon Campaign

Half of 16- to 21-year-old girls would consider having surgery to change the way they look, according to research published by Girlguiding UK.

A university leader has caused controversy by saying curvy female students are a “perk of the job”.

Terence Kealey, of the University of Buckingham, said lecturers were aware of females who “flaunted their curves”. Read more at the BBC news site

events to save the world

Weds 28th Oct 1-6pm Girls R Us at North Central Library in Moston for young women and workers please rsvp to Jenny Wynn j.wynn@manchester.gov.uk

Sat 31st Oct VIF (very important females) 10-4.30pm at At Rosebridge High School Wigan event for young women and workers Please RSVP to Debbie Hall atWigan Council’s Youth Service on 0795 646 5729

Weds 4th November 5.30-8pm ‘Think about it’ event for young women to think about school education and what young women feel about these, and what it would take to help them fulfil their full potential
contact Amelia@ica-uk.org.uk

Young womens event in Derry… looking at what it means to be a young woman, coping with stress and lots of fun activities

See the poster and booking form below for more details

UK Youth supported by Feminist Webs ran a hugely successful National Girls’ Work conference last week in Leeds, the first of its kind in 15 years! The sell out conference was very thought-provoking and provided an excellent opportunity to network and weave stronger webs with each other.

Read the closing speech by Tania de St Croix- ‘Off Target… Girls work, control and inequality’ tania-girls-work-speech-sep09

Girl Guiding UK is backing a Liberal Democrats campaign to ban the airbrushing of models in adverts aimed at young people.
The campaign, which is also endorsed by the National Centre for Eating Disorders, encourages people to complain to the Advertising Standards Agency and the Committee of Advertising Practice about adverts that show “unrealistic body images”.

Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the party’s working group on women’s policy, said advertisers should be “honest and upfront” about the extent of airbrushing that goes on.

She said: “Adverts that feature heavily retouched images of perfect skin, perfect hair and perfect figures mean that women and girls increasingly feel that nothing less than perfect will do.”

Advertisers who “take already underweight women and then slice off pieces of their thighs or hips in the computer suite” are simply irresponsible, she added. Read more here

The last event at Halton which was a great success

at the Water Adventure Centre (WAC)
off Maddison Road, Droylsden, Manchester, M43 6ES

Open to young women 12-25 in Tameside, Manchester and beyond, and any women workers or women volunteers who work with young people.
Sessions include:
-canoeing
- banner making
- postcard deisgn
- animation
- create your own ‘zine ………..plus refreshments and lots more!!

It has been planned and will be run by young women and their youth
workers, so come along, enjoy it and show your support for /women/derful youth work with young women. Please send to others who might like to come.

For workers-
•You can also take part in a ‘think tank’ session for you to share
examples of young women’s work/ anti-sexist / feminist youth work you are proud of so please bring pictures/ objects to start the conversation going.
For young women-
•You can find out about youth work available to you locally and
regionally that you can get involved with

To find out more and book places contact Kayleigh or Lilian
at the water adventure centre

Amazing Young Women work with 13-19 year old women helping them to build confidence, raise their self esteem, create goals for the future and have a little fun along the way.

The first Wigan based meeting will be at Standish Community Centre, off Church Street, Standish on Wednesday 9th September at 7.30pm.
For young women aged 13-19 only.

Come along to find out more and help plans activities for the next year.

Join our Facebook group

A survey by the NSPCC and Bristol University has revealed that one in three young women has suffered sexual abuse from a boyfriend and one in four has experienced violence in a relationships.

Read more here