A group of young women from Perth and Kinross have won the Sheila McKechnie Foundation’s Young Campaigner Award, in recognition of their ‘Bold Girls Ken’ campaign about consent.

Bold Girls Ken is a youth-led campaign which aims to educate young people about what consent looks like on and offline. It was created by pupils at Bertha Park High School, Crieff High School and Perth College who researched, developed and co-designed resources to support young people’s understanding of consent and the support available to them. These resources were shared with secondary schools and health facilities across Scotland and have been presented in Scottish Parliament as well as at various events and webinars with key organisations and service providers.

Bold Girls Ken forms part of Young Women Know, a project run by The Young Women’s Movement and NSPCC Scotland, and was delivered in partnership with Perth and Kinross Council. Young Women Know was created after The Young Women’s Movement investigation into sexual harassment in Scottish schools in 2018, which found that 91% of girls felt that sexual harassment and gender-based bullying were problems at their school; and the NSPCC Helpline report ‘Is this abuse?’ which found that 9 times as many girls as boys contacted Childline for support.

Jenni Snell, CEO of The Young Women’s Movement, said: “I’m thrilled that the Bold Girls Ken campaigners have won this award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation. At a time when young women’s rights and safety are increasingly in jeopardy, with misogyny, sexual abuse and violence against women and girls on the rise, these young campaigners have shown immense courage and tenacity in tackling this urgent topic. Their commitment and leadership are truly deserving of this recognition and award.”

Carla Malseed, NSPCC Scotland local campaigns manager, said: “Every young woman deserves to feel safe and comfortable off and online and we are incredibly proud of these young women for everything they have done to tackle peer sexual abuse, misogyny and gender-based violence.

“The Bold Girls Ken worked tirelessly to help so many people to have meaningful conversations about healthy relationships and consent and to make sure that young people know where they can get support or information if needed. It’s absolutely brilliant to see their efforts being recognised by this award – they thoroughly deserve it!”

The next stage of the Young Women Know project will build upon the successes of the original campaigns, and will tackle online safety and misogyny, consent, and AI image abuse.

Young people looking for support on any of the issues mentioned, can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or visit childline.org.uk. Childline is available to all young people until their 19th birthday.

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Notes to editors

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The Young Women’s Movement

The Young Women’s Movement is Scotland’s national organisation for young women and girls’ leadership and rights. We are local in action and national in impact.

Young women are at the heart of everything we do. They inform, shape and lead our organisation and the work we do. We work alongside young women to amplify their voices and take action.  Our vision is a fairer Scotland for all self-identifying young women and girls.

For 100 years, we have been a collective force changing things for the better for young women in Scotland. Our work with young women and girls across Scotland includes supporting them to lead campaigns on issues that matter to them; amplifying their voices in decision-making spaces; and shaping national and local policy and practice in their interests.

Find us online at youngwomenscot.org, or find us at @youngwomenscot on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok. 

NSPCC

The NSPCC is the leading children’s charity fighting to end child abuse in the UK and Channel Islands. Using voluntary donations, which make up around 80 per cent of our funding, we help children who’ve been abused to rebuild their lives, we protect children at risk, and we find the best ways of preventing child abuse from ever happening. 

So when a child needs a helping hand, we’ll be there. When parents are finding it tough, we’ll help. When laws need to change, or governments need to do more, we won’t give up until things improve.

Our Childline service provides a safe, confidential place for children with no one else to turn to, whatever their worry, whenever they need help. Children can contact Childline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Our free NSPCC helpline is open every day of the year for any adult worried about a child. Our practitioners provide advice and support, listen to concerns about a child, and offer general information about child protection.