New Report by Nonprofit Analyzes Wrestle of Ladies Throughout Pandemic – CBS San Francisco
OAKLAND (BCN) – According to a new report released on Wednesday by the Oakland-based nonprofit Alliance for Girls, girls and gender-specific teens collectively faced larger mental health barriers, more caring responsibilities and fewer resources during the pandemic.
Using mixed methods analysis to interview more than 1,200 girls across the state, the report found that isolation in the early stages of lockdown caused 66 percent of participants to be more stressed or anxious in various ways.
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About 44 percent of girls said they had more caregiving duties at home than they did before the pandemic, and 31 percent said those duties had a negative impact on their education, the report said.
About 30 percent of girls said they couldn’t get the educational support they needed, 12 percent said they didn’t have a safe place to live, and 15 percent said they didn’t have access to a caring adult during lockdown, according to in called the report.
The findings applied to the report’s analysts, many of whom are girls themselves. Alliance for Girls brought in 16-20 year old members from its Young Women Leadership Board, made up of young women willing to share their experiences in order to keep advocacy relevant.
For example, researcher and board member Uche Esomonu said she could refer to participants’ reports of increased household responsibilities.
“Many of us really understood the concerns expressed in the survey responses. I believe that we are best placed not only to evaluate the data we see, but also to collect recommendations and develop support programs that could help alleviate some of the challenges expressed in the survey responses were brought, ”said Esomonu.
Emma Mayerson, founding director of Alliance for Girls, said the pandemic was not bringing new inequalities, but worsening longstanding challenges for girls to thrive in an already fragile ecosystem.
“For too long we have silenced the voices of women, girls and gender-specific youth, and for too long we have relied on them to be on the front lines of crises, caring for our young, old and sick, and working twice as hard for less, all without making sure they get the support they need to not only survive but thrive, ”Mayerson said.
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This was particularly the case with girls in vulnerable populations, such as the pregnant and parental teenagers whom Sandra Flores, interim executive director of Teen Success, Inc., helps on a daily basis. Too often, these parents are overlooked by the school districts under normal conditions, and it’s important to reach out to them in order to do better in the future, she said.
“We cannot emphasize enough the isolation our members have experienced. There was a tremendous social and emotional impact on what was already happening, ”said Flores. “And if you were a young mother who was already struggling with childbirth, things got worse.”
Kendra Edwards, data and analytics manager at MISSEY Inc., an organization committed to protecting and caring for sexually exploited adolescents, said the needs of black and transgender girls must be specifically addressed in order to have an overall safe community a political level. From her work, she has seen that sexual exploitation is consistent with those who systemically lack adequate services or support.
“Girls tell us that health and wellbeing for them requires access to safe spaces and supportive adults, and that health is relational, that safety is related to belonging,” said Edwards. “And these definitions, these demands have to be made at a political level because we often don’t even think about mental health or safety. Our girls tell us that it has to be. ”
The report urges schools, policymakers and funders to put girls’ wellbeing at the center of planning for services and support.
Aimee Eng, school principal for the Oakland Unified School District, attended the report’s press conference Tuesday to discuss the report, and said the district’s partnership helped them respond and adapt to the needs of girls. For example, in an initial survey in Spring 2020, Alliance for Girls showed that girls in the district rely heavily on schools for menstrual products, and the district has stocked its food distribution locations across town with period products.
“Thanks to this report, we now have even more information that can help us take action to ensure we meet the needs of girls, especially girls of color and gender-specific youth, during this time,” said Eng.
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