A national charity for young women facing violence and abuse hasexpressed concerns that the current proposals do not adequately takeinto account the different needs of young women and men. The YWCA saidthe shortcomings highlighted the need for a more detailed "genderanalysis" of youth provision.
Sally Copley, director of policy, research and campaigns, said YouthMatters did not recognise that the needs of young men and women can bevery different. She said: "Instead of just saying 'young people' weshould be saying 'young women' or 'young men' to ensure services meettheir needs."
Copley added that the need for women-only space was born out bystatistics.
She stressed that problems like self-harm and risk of rape and sex abuseare far higher among young girls and that girls are more likely to dropout of school because of bullying and peer pressure.
The organisation is in the process of carrying out a consultation withyoung people and a review of research into single gender provision to bepublished in October.
- www.ywca-gb.org.uk.
