New research issued by Plan International UK has found the ten worst and ten best places to be a girl in the UK.
According to the research which looked at child poverty, life expectancy, education, and teen pregnancy in England and Wales, Middlesbrough was deemed the worst place to be a girl.
It was quickly followed by Blackpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Liverpool.
Waverly in Surrey was found to be the best place for girls to grow up, with Rushcliffe, Chiltern and Mole Valley also featuring in the top ten list.
A geographical divide between inner city areas and the south east was also discovered.
However, the study also found that no matter where they lived, girls faced sexual discrimination, cyber bullying and pressure to have the ‘perfect’ body.
“We heard very strongly from girls that they were facing harassment every day, that meant they were facing harassment in schools, they were getting name-calling, unwanted sexual touching, groping,” Lucy Russell, UK girls’ rights campaigner for Plan and co-author of the report, said.
“They also told us that they don’t feel safe online and that they are scared when they walk to and from school.
“We also heard that girls feel very, very concerned about their body image and about the messages they are getting from social media and magazines, translating to a very serious extent into mental health issues.”
Calling for more to be done, Lucy said that despite being one of the most developed countries in the world, many girls are “not enjoying their rights”.
“Our overall conclusion is the UK is failing girls and what needs to happen is urgent action to address this.”
| 10 worst places to live in England and Wales | 10 best places to live in England and Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middlesbrough | Waverly |
| 2 | Blackpool | Rushcliffe |
| 3 | Manchester | Chiltern |
| 4 | Nottingham | Mole Valley |
| 5 | Liverpool | Epson and Ewell |
| 6 | Knowsley | Rutland |
| 7 | Hastings | Elmbridge |
| 8 | Hull | Wokingham |
| 9 | Salford | St Albans |
| 10 | Sandwell | East Hertfordshire |
