On Tuesday afternoon, UN Women Australia hosted a fabulous panel discussion on engaging young women. Chaired brilliantly by Leonie-Ruth Acland, the event was a huge success with all participants engaged and excited about the ideas and advice given by the panellists.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Liz Broderick kicked off proceedings, speaking about barriers to young women transitioning from education to employment.  She reported on some of her consultations with young women across Australia and their consistent experiences of sexual harassment and workplace harassment.  Sadly, the audience was not shocked by these stories and statistics, and representatives from Asia, America and Africa noted that the situation in their country was the same.  Liz also spoke about technology as an opportunity for educating young women and giving them access to information which they may not otherwise have access to.

Catriona spoke next, providing the audience with some very tangible strategies on how to engage young women in a meaningful way.  She also reported on her consultations with Australian Young Women, noting that the issues of violence, gender steryotupes in the media and transition from education to employment were concerns common to many young women.  Her speech was received very well and we received a huge amount of support for the concept of having a Youth Delegate to CSW!!

Jessica Notwell from the YWCA closed the panel, speaking about the YWCA’s quota system for young women on their boards.  She spoke about the importance of intergenerational leadership and shared some insights into the journey which the YWCA globally had taken to reach agreement on a quota system.  Jessica was convincing and passionate – and a testament to the wonderful women of the YWCA!

The event was action oriented and we hope that all participants walked away confident of at least one step which they could take to advance their organisation’s ability to engage young women.