Orkney has been ranked the top place in the UK to be a girl in a new report by a children’s charity.
East Renfrewshire and the Shetland Islands are also in the top five areas to be a girl in the UK, according to the study by Plan International UK.
However, its State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2020 report highlights how regional inequality means some are growing up with greater rights and access to opportunity than others, and it calls for action to boost equality.
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In a survey for the report, six in 10 girls in Scotland (59 per cent) said they believed males were treated better than females in the UK.
The best places for girls in the UK
Over half of the more than 1,000 girls and young women aged 14-21 surveyed in Scotland (56 per cent) said they had personally encountered a situation where they believed they would have been treated better if they were male.
Rose Caldwell, chief executive of Plan International UK, said policies at national, devolved and local level were not going far enough to tackle inequality and she called for the introduction of “gender champions” across the country.
She said: “As we enter 2020, it is encouraging to see that Scotland is leading the movement for giving girls greater access to opportunity and equality.
“But sadly our report finds that girls across the UK, including in Scotland, still feel disempowered and unable to realise their rights, with their potential largely determined by birthplace.
“Girls are told they can succeed, but they face a threat to their safety in public, online and in schools. They are told gender equality has been achieved, and yet they do not feel represented or heard by those in power.”
Ms Caldwell added: “If adolescent girls are feeling undervalued, unheard and under-represented in public life, we as a society are letting them down. This simply cannot continue.
“The findings in this report should serve as a wake-up call for all politicians and leaders.”
The report’s analysis measured girls’ rights and quality of life using indicators including child poverty, life expectancy and whether they were in education, employment or training.
Dundee is in the bottom 10 in the UK area rankings, and is ranked last in Scotland.
Orkney is first in the UK while East Renfrewshire is second in Scotland, followed by Shetland, Aberdeenshire and Stirling.
The key findings are that girls do not feel safe in public, still face inequality in the classroom and that their voices are not being heard.
The study found that girls’ bodies are constantly scrutinised and stigmatised, and cultural pressure to look a certain way remains a key source of anxiety in girls’ lives.
The report’s recommendations to tackle the key challenges that girls face include stopping street harassment, ending stigma around menstruation and remodelling girls’ experiences of school.
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Through the work of the Dundee Partnership, agencies and organisations in the city are working to make it a better place for everyone.”
The top 10 places in Scotland to be a girl, according to the report, are:
1. Orkney Islands
2. East Renfrewshire
3. Shetland Islands
4. Aberdeenshire
5. Stirling
6. Perth and Kinross
7, Argyll and Bute
8. Scottish Borders
9. Highland
10. South Ayrshire
The bottom 10 are:
1. Falkirk
2. Inverclyde
3. North Lanarkshire
4. North Ayrshire
5. East Ayrshire
6. Fife
7. West Dunbartonshire
8.Clackmannanshire
9. Glasgow City
10. Dundee City
