YWCA

what we do

What we care about

Young people, and especially young women are unfairly demonised by the media.

At YWCA we speak up for young women and give them a chance to have their say about all sorts of things.

We are doing all we can to work on behalf of every girl from a disadvantaged background, whether or not she comes to one of our centres.

Our research and face-to-face work with girls tells us what we should be campaigning about. We lobby for changes in the law and new policies to help them.

Right now we are really concerned about:

	Crime and offending More and more young women are becoming trapped in a cycle of crime and poverty.
	Education and skills Girls need better careers advice and training opportunities. Our More than one rung campaign helps young women work their way off the bottom rung of the career ladder.
	Health and wellbeing For young women in the most disadvantaged communities alcohol abuse, bad diets and poor sexual health are huge problems.
	Money and debt This is a huge problem and young women are being hit especially hard.
	Violence and abuse Young disadvantaged women are at greatest risk of experiencing violence and abuse yet there is limited support for under-18s in abusive relationships.
	Young mums We work to challenge the poverty, discrimination and social exclusion young mums face.