Girl Guides and Girl Scouts' standing in the community means we're in a great position to lobby to end violence. Lobbying is a form of advocacy, sometimes easier to think of as "speaking out" directly to decision-makers, with specific demands in mind.
Decision-makers include governments, members of parliament, civil servants, town leaders, school boards, clubs, and anyone else who makes decisions affecting others. When you lobby decision-makers you are in an influential position to suggest changes to policy, legislation, services or practices. Lobbying can be as simple as a girl arranging a meeting with the Headteacher of her school to ask for better toilet facilities to make school a safer place for all girls. However, lobbying can also take place at a national and global level. By lobbying on policies to do with violence against girls you can help shape decisions and policies in your country, region or beyond, to stop the violence.
There are seven key areas that we are calling for governments and international bodies to change policies in. We are asking decision-makers to:
Support
Ensure that the necessary support services are in place for victims and survivors of violence
Treasure
Commit money and budget to programmes that are working on violence against girls
Organise
Create and put in place national action plans and strategies that integrate all stakeholders and actors
Prevent
Support preventative education programmes and campaigns that tackle the root causes of violence against girls
Protect
Ensure victims and survivors of violence are protected by the law and that perpetrators are prosecuted
Empower
Support activities and programmes that encourage girls and young women’s genuine participation in decision-making
Invest in Data
Increase efforts to collect data and statistics, on violence against girls
Download the WAGGGS’ position statement on Violence Against Girls to learn more about our understanding of violence against girls and what needs to change in order to eliminate it.
Coming soon you will be able to access guidance documents on speaking out at a national level and speaking out at an international level.
Add your voice
Call on ALL countries in the Council of Europe to ratify the Istanbul Convention and commit to ending the violence!
Add your voice