Brook position statement - gender

Brook believes that unless an understanding of gender is at the heart of policy and practice we will not meet the needs of young men and women or help them to achieve more equitable relationships and we will fail to achieve public policy targets and priorities including reducing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Brook’s position on gender

We believe that only by putting gender at the heart of the development and implementation of policy and practice will we meet the needs of young people, reach public policy targets and priorities, and achieve the sort of change which will enable young people to have more mutual and equal relationships.

We must secure young people’s right to clear, unbiased information about sex and relationships and ensure those relationships and sex education (RSE) in school and the community and sexual health services address the needs of young men and women. Only by providing a safe environment in which young people can explore their sexuality and build positive relationships can we hope to reach public health targets on teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Young people tell us that their experiences of growing up are often very different to the traditional stereotypes played out in the media and the classroom. We know these mixed messages serve to undermine the self confidence and self-esteem of the young people we seek to empower.

Despite the progress made by anti-discriminatory legislation, the women’s movement, and more recently work with young men, young people and their sexual relationships are rarely viewed in a positive light and navigating a path towards rewarding sexual relationships for young men and women is still difficult.

Young men tend to view sexual health services as being for girls and worry that they will be met with disapproval and judgmental attitudes at clinics and are less likely than girls to know where their local services are.(1)

The pressure exerted on young people to not only have sex, but also know everything about it can be immense; boys tell us they are not expected to show their feelings or ask for help, they are supposed to be tough and conform to a specific model of masculinity defined by sexual encounters and performance.

At the same time, young women are telling us of the difficulties in asserting what they want from relationships and that they often find sex is unfulfilling. There is also clear evidence that many young women are still experiencing sexual violence.

This is reflected in the reasons young people give for having sex. Boys are more likely to give their reasons for first sex as peer pressure, opportunity and curiosity compared to girls who were more likely to cite being in love, but the difference between the sexes is becoming less pronounced.(2)

On average, two women a week are killed by a current or former male partner.(3)  Recent figures from Women’s Aid and Bliss Magazine’s ’Expect Respect’ campaign showed that 1 in 5 Bliss readers aged 12-19 had been physically hurt by someone they were dating.(4)     Alarmingly, they also found that nearly a quarter of fourteen year old girls had been forced to have sex, or do something sexual they did not wish to do, by someone they were dating.     Research for NSPCC also indicates that a third of teenage girls in a relationship have experienced unwanted sexual acts and a quarter physical violence.(5)

This is vividly described by a young woman who volunteered with Brook:

When a girl is 13 or 14, and a boy is putting pressure on her for sex – you know, coming on to her – she might say no, but he’ll keep coming to her. And keep on, until she screams. That’ll send him away. That happened to me and all my friends when we were younger.

The attitudes that allow this to continue to happen must be tackled by addressing the imbalance of power within relationships.    SRE delivered with a broader personal, social, health and economic education curriculum in school and the community has a key role to play in supporting children and young people to develop and maintain healthy and positive relationships.

Young gay and bisexual men and women often experience bullying, not only because of their sexuality, but because of long held cultural and religious beliefs or, sometimes, simply because they do not fit within perceived, and often accepted, gender guidelines.

A young person’s sense of identity, whether they are straight, gay, lesbian or bisexual is central to their happiness and wellbeing. Our mission is to enable all young people to make informed choices about their personal and sexual relationships so that they can enjoy their sexuality free from the threat of bullying, humiliation, coercion, stereotyping, stigma and harm.

Brook’s understanding of gender and its impact on young lives underpins how we deliver our education and prevention services. Only by entrusting young people to play a pivotal role in the development and delivery of those services can we hope to meet public health targets, increase young people’s positive sexual development and relationship experiences and help reduce inequality.

References

1 Young People into 2008 – web edition, Schools Health Education Unit, 2009
2 K Wellings et al, Sexual behaviour in Britain: early heterosexual experience, The Lancet, Vol 358, December 1 2001
3 Women’s Aid Factsheet, Domestic Violence Statistics, June 2007
4 Women’s Aid launches new teen domestic violence statistics with Bliss Magazine,  Women’s Aid Press Release, 3 December 2009
5 Christine Barter, Melanie McCarry, David Berridge and Kathy Evans, Partner exploitation and violence in teenage intimate relationships, University of Bristol and NSPCC, 2009

Publication date: November 2011