Children's Commissioner meets with Girlguiding members to discuss rising pressures

15 January 2025

Today, the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza DBE met with Girlguiding’s Advocate Panel, young members and CEO Angela Salt to discuss the disproportionate challenges and pressures facing girls and young women across the UK.

From appearance pressures to sexual harassment, today’s girls are facing a challenging and uncertain society. Dame Rachel listened to the experiences of the girls to understand the issues they are encountering day to day as a young person in the UK.

Girlguiding’s latest Girls’ Attitudes Survey found that 3 in 4 girls aged 11-16 see or experience sexism, and as the UK’s largest organisation dedicated to girls, Girlguiding strives to create a fairer, safer world for girls by providing a welcoming space where they can have fun, learn new things and be themselves.

Girlguiding Advocates presented to Dame Rachel, discussing the organisation’s mission and impact, sharing stories of their own experiences as a young person in the UK and how the organisation has made a difference in their lives. Girlguiding’s advocates are a panel of members aged 14-25 who help to steer the organisation’s – from meeting with MPs and speaking in Parliament, to contributing to Girlguiding’s own calls to government in the 2024 general election manifesto - ‘For all girls’.

Lucy, 17, Girlguiding advocate, said: “Girls often aren’t listened to about the issues that affect us most, and the only way to change that is by letting us be part of the conversation. I’d like to thank the Children’s Commissioner for coming to meet us and hearing from girls directly about the issues we face.

Girls and young women often find themselves chasing an ever-changing definition of perfection, as they are often held to a different, unreachable standard. Whether it’s in the media, online or at school, stereotypes and ideas of what girls ‘should’ be doing are seemingly unavoidable. Add in the pressures of things like exams and rising levels of misogyny and it’s easy to see why girls’ mental health has worsened significantly in recent years.

I am proud that my work as a Girlguiding advocate allows me to contribute to real, meaningful change to the world around me, and positively impact the lives of girls and young women in the UK.”

After learning about Girlguiding’s mission, Dame Rachel got the opportunity to experience a modern Girlguiding unit meeting, as all the young members in attendance joined 100th Streatham Brownies (aged 7-10) to complete the unit meeting activity ‘Positive Pebbles’. The activity encourages girls to champion themselves and their peers by reflecting on times they’ve felt limited and how they overcame those challenges. Dame Rachel joined in with the girls as they made their pebbles, decorated in positive affirmations.

Angela Salt, CEO of Girlguiding, said: “We were glad to welcome the Children’s Commissioner to meet some of our impressive young members and give her a taste of what Girlguiding is all about. It is crucial that girls’ voices are heard by key decision makers to help shape important discussions impacting their future.

“We know that girls are facing mounting issues and pressures, and this is adversely affecting their lives. Our latest Girls’ Attitudes Survey found that only 1 in 4 girls (25%) aged 7-21 feel confident about their future, and it is our mission to ensure we are doing everything we can to help girls know they can do anything and give them hope for a brighter tomorrow.

“From building their leadership skills through our peer education programme, to encouraging them to develop their own skillset through our badges and activities, Girlguiding always has improving the lives of girls and young women at its core. We are committed to developing our relationship with the Children’s Commissioner to work towards our mutual goal of making sure girls’ voices are heard.”

Dame Rachel de Souza DBE, Children’s Commissioner, said: “I was delighted to meet Girlguiding’s Advocate Panel and young members to hear about the fantastic work Girlguiding does to support girls to achieve their potential across the country. A number of themes discussed today come up in my own work, which has shown that too many girls and young women lack confidence in their own abilities or skills – and in my Big Ambition survey, just 21% of girls said they believe the people who run the country listen to their views. As Children’s Commissioner, I want every child to have a voice and feel heard.

This is absolutely vital if we are to help encourage a generation of curious, confident young people who can learn, grow and thrive in safety – the girls I spoke to today are great examples of why I want the government and politicians all over the country to listen to their views and act in response.”