Silenced. Suppressed.

These were the words used to describe the situation of girls and young women globally whenever they try to participate in politics.

Plan International, a humanitarian organization aiming to advance children’s rights and equality for girls, through their initiative called “Equal Power Now,” conducted a survey in hopes of exploring and understanding the political and civic participation experiences of girls and young women across the globe.

A total of 28,751 girls and young women aged 15 to 24 took part in the large-scale survey. 1,000 of them were from the Philippines.

The questionnaire had 15 closed questions structured around the interviewees’ perceptions of political leaders, issues and effects of decisions, as well as their perception of girls’ and young women’s engagement and participation in politics.

Challenges perceived by girls and young women

Although interested in participating, Plan International disclosed that girls and young women continue to face enormous barriers in political participation.

At least 94 percent of the interviewees identified various barriers they personally faced. Most of them cited that they have experienced “not being listened to” by politicians while others said politics is “not open” to young women or girls’ participation and this causes an “overall disengagement.”

In Asia and Pacific alone, 29 percent of the respondents said they do not think that politicians “would listen to them” due to their gender and age.

“Girls and young women further identified the challenges they perceived when they try to participate, such as: feeling like politics is not open to them (27 percent), being afraid to speak out about their views (26 percent), thinking that politicians would not listen to them (26 percent), and not understanding enough about political issues (20 percent),” said the humanitarian organization.

Call of action

Despite the aforementioned barriers, the respondents said that they are still “concerned about the environment, poverty, hunger, conflict, as well as political decisions” which affect their own communities.

Equal Now’s data showed that 97 percent of the survey respondents thought participating in politics was important. Highlighting this, Plan International stood their ground by saying that girls and young women are interested in participating, calling on all leaders across the globe to ensure a “safe participation” of girls by building “inclusive pathways” to political participation.

“The role of girls and young women in shaping the development of our local and global communities can no longer be denied. With local and global issues surrounding politics, health, education, and social welfare becoming increasingly complex, we need now more than ever for girls’ voices to be duly recognized,” said Plan International Country Director Ana Locsin.