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Project information

Democracy for young women in the UK

Many women in the UK are still not exercising their hard won right to vote, especially young women.

Fawcett wants to raise awareness of the importance of voting and engaging in the political debate, so that women's views are adequately represented at the highest levels of power.

January 2015 - May 2015

Charity information: Fawcett Society

Fawcett Society logo
  • Need

    Need

    In the last general election, young women in the UK were far less likely to be involved in politics or to vote, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and from black and minority ethnic groups.

    Yet the active involvement of a broad cross-section of women in both local and national level politics and the equal representation of women at the ballot box in the May 2015 general election is vital to ensuring that women’s views are adequately represented at the highest levels of power.

    Solution

    Fawcett will seek to use a combination of traditional and online campaigning tools, including Twitter and Facebook, to make the election matter to young women. We will engage them on both the issues that affect them, and on the importance of women engaging in the still male-dominated political sphere.

    We will develop new materials and resources that are aimed specifically at young women, including infographics, films and policy analysis that is relevant and accessible.

  • Aims

    Aim 1

    The project will seek to inspire action by involving young women directly in political campaigning


    Activities

    » Fawcett will be organising a high profile party leaders hustings in advance of the 2015 election
    » Fawcett will use celebrities and high profile women to make a series of short films about the importance of voting and distribute them via Youtube
    » Fawcett will use radio to reach young women with an election special phone-in to discuss the major issues affecting them

    What success will look like

    Engagement with Fawcett's campaigns, including social media, attendance at events and participation in the radio phone in

    Aim 2

    Encourage women to influence the political parties by exercising their democratic right to vote


    Activities

    » Publish an analysis of the main political party manifestos focusing on their implications for young women

    What success will look like

    The profile of young women's interests will be raised amongst the political parties with their views represented in policies and voter turnout increased amongst young women

  • Impact

    Impact

    Young women will be inspired to engage in the political debate and to hold the politicians to account for their pre-election pledges. This will be evident from young women's continued participation in Fawcett campaigns.

    Risk

    There is a risk that there will remain a deep-seated apathy towards voting amongst young women. We will seek to use messaging appropriate to the target audience to inspire action and reduce this risk.

    Reporting

    We will report on the success of this campaign before and after the May 2015 general election, through direct contact and via our website, e-bulletins and bi-annual StopGap magazine.

  • Budget

    Budget - Project Cost: £20,000

    Loading graph....
      Amount Heading Description
      £13,000 Direct staff costs Policy analysis and messages, campaigning, e-communications, events and media relations
      £1,000 Event To enable young women to attend leaders' hustings
      £5,000 Materials Production of shareable info-graphics, films and other resources
      £1,000 Admin costs Campaign admin and support
  • Background

    Location

    The project will be run from our Head Office in London and have nationwide reach.

    Beneficiaries

    Young women, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and from black and minority ethnic groups.

  • Why Us?

    Why Us?

    Since our founder’s successful parliamentary campaign for the women’s vote, Fawcett have continued to keep gender equality issues in the public eye with a particular focus on women’s access to power and politics. Today we are the UK’s largest independent membership organisation with a dedicated focus on advancing gender equality in the UK. We were instrumental in ensuring women’s voices were heard in advance of the London mayoral election through our What About Women in London campaign.

    Read more about the Charity running this project.

    People

    Miranda Seymour-Smith

    Chief Executive

    Daisy Sands

    Head of Policy and Campaigns

    Eva Neitzert

    Senior Policy and Campaigns Officer