As we launch Status of Young Women in Scotland 2024–25, our Research & Policy Lead, Dr Rebecca Mason discusses our focus on young women’s human rights, and why this is so necessary in Scotland today.

Across Scotland, young women and girls are struggling to have their basic human rights realised due to poor access to healthcare, precarious employment, the prevalence and persistence of gender-based violence, and the ongoing climate crisis. Despite existing legal protections, young women bear the brunt of extreme misogyny online, girls are going hungry as families continue to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, and young women are stuck in poorly insulated and expensive accommodation due to an ongoing housing crisis. These are just some of the human rights crises affecting young women and girls across Scotland today, and we owe it to them to take notice, not to look away.

We know how embedded and integral human rights are to the issues that affect young women’s lives in Scotland, like the cost-of-living crisis, gender-based violence, and getting the right support at the right time. Yet, when young women’s human rights are breached or violated, the routes to access justice and resources are often hindered in some way by misogyny and discrimination. Given the additional barriers young women and girls face because of their age and gender, there is a need for specific protection to tackle discrimination against young women and to remove the barriers that are stopping them from fully accessing their rights.

This year, to celebrate our centenary birthday the Status of Young Women in Scotland 2024-25 (SYWS 24-25) report will explore how young women understand, access and advocate for their human rights in Scotland, uncovering what barriers they might face when attempting to access their rights, and asking what can be done to help young women realise their rights in Scotland today.

Delving into our history is an important part of this research. At The Young Women’s Movement, we can trace our organisational history back to the nineteenth century, when the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) was established in 1855.YWCA Scotland – our former organisational title – can be traced back to April 1924, when the Scottish Council seceded from the YWCA of Great Britain. Its original formation was as a membership organisation which maintained local affiliate centres across the country. It was originally set up to address the needs of single women arriving from rural areas to join the industrial workforce in London, by offering housing, education and support with a “warm Christian atmosphere”. At the 1910 World YWCA conference in Berlin, a resolution was passed requiring the association to study social and industrial problems, and to educate working women about the “social measures and legislation enacted in their behalf”. It was finally the time for young women to be educated about their rights.

When we formally established as a standalone organisation in Scotland in 1924, young women under the age of 30 did not yet have the right to vote. One hundred years on, we are reflecting on how far we have come as an organisation and wider movement and asking ourselves what we can do to create a better and brighter future for young women and girls in Scotland. Young women across Scotland are still campaigning for fully equal opportunities and pay, for a legal right to a healthy environment, and to live a life free from male violence and abuse, among many other rights-based issues. How has the situation for young women and girls across Scotland improved over the past century? How has it stagnated? What new challenges are young women facing on a daily basis? Where are we on the road to achieving gender equality in Scotland?

Great progress has been made in Scotland, but there is still so much more to do. Like much of civil society, we are deeply disappointed in the Scottish Government’s decision to renege on their commitment to introduce the Scottish Human Rights Bill in this parliamentary session. We are currently dealing with a global anti-rights movement that seeks to strip young women and girls of their rights, opportunities and freedoms, and we must lead by example by enacting legislation that seeks to bolster the human rights of everyone in Scotland. We do, however, welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to undertaking further work to develop the Bill, particularly to ensure the rights of disabled people, women, and those who experience racism, are properly safeguarded.  

When deciding on the theme of SYWS 24-25, the young women involved in our movement told us that they want a better understanding of their own human rights, and how they might access high-quality, evidence-based information when they feel their rights may have been breached, violated, or ignored. Young women want to know how to access their human rights in everyday life, and safely advocate for their rights in public and online spaces. Young women need a place to go with their problems, and to know that action can be taken when their rights are breached or violated. They deserve to confidently name and claim their human rights and be empowered and encouraged to participate in decision-making and the development of policy and practice that affects them and their rights.

At The Young Women’s Movement, we owe much to the young women who came before us, and much more to the young women who will come after us. By focusing on young women’s human rights for SYWS 24-25, we seek to provide a robust evidence base that will address the intersecting root causes of inequality and discrimination by amplifying the underrepresented voices and experiences of some of the most marginalised in our society.

If you are a young woman* aged 16 to 30, we want to hear from you!

Our survey closes on Friday 25^th October.  

*Self-identifying young women and girls, and people from marginalised
genders (e.g. non-binary people) who feel comfortable in a space that centres
the experiences of young women and girls, are welcome to respond to the survey.