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By BAE Systems Plc

International Women’s Day: Gaining Momentum

Chance UK

4 min read Partner content

International Women’s Day is “not just a nice night out to watch some female comedians, but a really important political event”, says Gracia McGrath.

Globally, violence against women came to a furore this year following the gang-rape of a 23-year old student on a bus in New Delhi.

Yet McGrath does not want us to neglect what is happening to young girls in the United Kingdom.

McGrath is chief executive of Chance UK, a charity that provides mentoring for children aged five-11, as well as a specific girl's project.

“For those of us that work on the ground we already know what happens to girls in gang areas.

“We already know about girls being recruited from an incredibly young age to be sexually exploited in gangs”, she says.

McGrath talks of cases in over the past year of men who have deliberately targeted the most vulnerable girls in order to sexually abuse them.

“We are not talking about young people, but grown men who have targeted children in care.

“Some of the quotes that came from the girls in the cases, were heart-breaking – one of the girls told her friends, “it is what I have to do to make somebody love me”, she said.

She is aware that such statements might be difficult for those people not working in the field to hear, but “we have to hear it”, she says.

“We have to hear about what the future is like for young girls in this country as well as other countries”.

International Women’s Day is a global annual event, held on the 8 March. It is designed to not only celebrate the achievements of women, but to try and ensure further change is still being worked towards.

The theme of the day this year is, ‘ the Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum’.

Asked whether we have indeed gained momentum, Gracia says that she “lives in hope” but is under no illusion that there is work to do.

“We have to make sure change happens, and question whether or not behaviour is acceptable”, she says.

However Gracia is keen to point out that International Women’s Day is not just about women taking action, but men too.

“Men have to understand that this is about their wives, daughters, sisters and mothers.

“If everybody takes responsibility it will gain momentum and if we do what people are doing in New Delhi and take to the streets and say not in your life, we will achieve change.

“We have to take responsibility at whatever level”, she says.

McGrath commends the One Billion Risinginitiative as an “incredible force” of people coming together to take action.

However she struggles with the idea that in 2013 we are still seeing the need for mass movements like One Billion Risingto force people into thinking about action to end violence against women and girls.

Asked whether the government is doing enough to combat violence against women and to ensure equality of opportunity for women, McGrath is less than impressed.

“I don’t think the government is necessarily setting the best example”, she says.

“The government is not a very good role model.

“We are seeing politicians at the very best, patronising women – such as David Cameron saying “calm down dear” to Labour MP Angela Eagle, right through to Lord Rennard and those who protected him.

“If anybody thinks Lord Rennard is the only one then they are very much mistaken, because men in positions of power do abuse those positions.

“That is something that the government has to take control of and they have to start within their own parties. They have to say “this is not acceptable”.

McGrath maintains that sexism is not anything that she has ever come up against working in the charity sector, although, “it is a very female environment”, she says.

Reacting to a statistic from International Women’s Day that reveals eight is the peak age of a girl’s leadership ambitions, McGrath, outlines why it is a key example of the need to work with young people before that age.

“If girls think of themselves in a leadership capacity up to the age of eight, we need to ask why they lose that ambition and start working with them before they are eight to reinforce that belief.

“We need to make sure older girls remember what it was like when they thought they could be in control, lead and take their own future and power very seriously.

“We have to be honest, people are afraid of strong women and I am not entirely sure why we are more afraid of strong women than strong men.

“The only way we can turn that around, is to make sure there are more strong women”, she says.

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