Girls Inc. Network-Wide Advocacy Platform, 2017–2020

Read as a PDF: Advocacy Platform

Overall Goals

Girls Inc. is committed to working — in collaboration with partner organizations and our entire network — to advance the rights and opportunities of girls and young women, to break through the barriers girls face, and to reform systems that impede their success.

We will engage in advocacy at the federal, state/provincial, and local levels, as appropriate, with a particular focus on the needs of girls from low-income communities and girls who face multiple, intersectional challenges such as those based on sex, race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

In coordination with our coalition partners we also advocate for support for out-of-school learning and mentoring opportunities that provide youth, particularly those in underserved communities, with academic enrichment, social and emotional learning, knowledge about healthy living, opportunities for physical activity, and interpersonal skills.

We are committed to a girl-centered advocacy approach that prioritizes the lived experiences of girls in our network and lifts up their voices; we aim to empower girls with the tools necessary to be change agents in their communities and beyond, and to develop into civically engaged individuals.

Policy & Advocacy Priorities

Combat Bullying, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Violence

  • Support protections against sex discrimination and advocate for strong enforcement, so schools fulfill their obligations to prevent and address harassment and violence and student survivors get the support they need to continue their education;

  • Work to prevent sexual violence, teen dating violence, and child sex trafficking by raising awareness and pushing schools to teach healthy relationship education and train staff to identify signs of victimization; and

  • Strengthen laws, policies, and funding for programs that promote trauma-informed practices and improve support for survivors of gender-based violence.

Promote Access to Education & Economic Independence

  • Promote access for girls to meaningful education opportunities regarding career paths that are nontraditional for women, including in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and advance diverse media representations of women and girls in nontraditional career fields;

  • Advocate for reform of unfair school discipline policies and practices that disproportionately push girls of color, girls with disabilities, and LGBT youth out of school; and

  • Support legislation and programs that advance educational opportunities for young women regardless of real or perceived immigration status or family income, including through federal grants and other forms of financial aid and student loans.

Support Girls’ Mental Health

  • Combat prevalent stigmas surrounding mental health issues and treatment, including for depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and trauma;

  • Promote diverse, empowering images of girls and women of all races, ethnicities, skin colors, sizes, body types, and abilities, and combat limiting depictions of women that contribute to mental health conditions and low self-esteem;

  • Push for more school-based health centers, counselors, social workers, and other programs that help low-income youth access mental health services; and

  • Advocate for trauma survivors’ access to the resources they need to heal and succeed, in schools, in the juvenile justice system, and in their communities.

Advance Reproductive Health

  • Advocate for comprehensive, medically accurate, non-shaming, and LGBT-inclusive sexuality education that gives young people full information about how to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; and

  • Expand and protect access to quality, affordable reproductive health care for girls and young women.