Member's statement: Girlguiding Ulster
Member's statement by Ms Kate Nicholl on .
- MLA
- Ms Kate Nicholl
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 8 December 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Girlguiding Ulster
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5284174
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Yes, thank you, Mr Speaker. If anyone is feeling a bit low about politics and needs a dose of inspiration, I have the answer. At the end of November, I had the privilege of meeting with Girlguiding Ulster in Parliament Buildings. I was grilled by them to a level of which no journalist would be capable. It was wonderful to spend time with those young women and talk about the Girls’ Attitudes Survey. This year, the 17th year of the survey, they surveyed over 2,500 girls and young women aged between seven and 21 to hear about the challenges that girls and young women right across the UK face. The survey highlights a lot of the challenges, including key concerns around sexism, misogyny in schools and challenges to mental health. It found:
"In the past year, 68% of girls have changed their everyday behaviour to avoid sexual harassment."
It also found:
"More than 1 in 4 young girls feel sad most days or every day compared to 1 in 10 in 2015."
It also found that 36% of 11 to 21-year-olds say that they feel depressed after spending time on social media. Those are sobering and powerful statistics. Even more powerful is the hope and optimism in the survey report, and the action that Girlguiding is taking to turn those statistics around. The survey found:
"More than 2 in 3 supported another girl who may have experienced sexism or misogyny."
It also found:
"80% of girls and young women aged 7-21 agree that ‘being outdoors and in nature helps me to feel happy’."
Of the respondents, 72% said that they want more of those opportunities. Another finding was:
"Almost two-thirds ... of girls and young women aged 7-21 want to be leaders in their chosen job, compared to 53% in 2018."
I encourage all Members to read the report, engage with young people and, together, take the action that is required to support all young people in our society to develop, grow and flourish.
334 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.96).
- Subject area: Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.09 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.34 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.96 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.03 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.97 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.03 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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