Female gender-sensitive youth work in Finland

1. GENDER-SENSITIVE
YOUTH WORKFemale perspective
Hanna, Maarit, Tilja & Anastasiia
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2. WHAT IS GENDER-SENSITIVE YOUTH
WORK?
• Gender-sensitivity refers to the recognition of the impact of gender in
our everyday choices and solutions
• However, gender-sensitivity does not imply that the
differences between genders should be enhanced
• Gender-sensitive approach takes into account the expectations that
the society sets for boys and girls -> only when these expectations are
being recognized and discussed, it is possible to give space for diversity
• Gender-sensitive youth work seeks to empower young girls, taking into
account their special needs and challenges
• Gender-sensitivity has been considered as one of the requirements for
gender equality
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3. WHY DO WE NEED YOUTH CLUBS
SPECIFICALLY FOR GIRLS? (1/2)
"Studies based on Marcia's theories have shown, that development of the identities of
young women differs from the personality development of men. It is easier for young
women to form a readily adopted identity.Women who have embraced this kind of
identity seem happier and more balanced. The primary principle of Marcia's theory
was that the target for identity development in every person is a clear identity. This
was not so clear-cut for women. In trying to clarify their personality by committing
determinedly to the own choices, young women crash into gender stereotypes. This
causes fear and anxiety. The life of women with clear identities is at times reminiscent
of those women whose identityis in crisis. Women who have a readily embraced
identity seem to live a more balanced and conflict-free life. Among men this kind of
life is lived by those with a clear identity. (Marcia 1980, 172-178.)"
Translated from Eischer & Tuppurainen 2009, 50.
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4. WHY DO WE NEED YOUTH CLUBS
SPECIFICALLY FOR GIRLS 2/2?
• The personality development of women differs from the personality development of
men with regard to identity.
• The target for identitydevelopment in every person – regardless of gender – is to
form a clear identity.
• Some women happily choose a predisposed feminine identity and seem to cope
fine
• Women, who aim to develop their own identities to something else than
stereotypical ones, crash head on into a society where gender stereotypes are
strongly imposed upon.
• This causes fear and anxiety for these women.
• The life of these women – even when they have formed a clear identity – is at times
reminiscent of those women whose identity is in crisis.
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5. GENDER STEREOTYPES
• One of the most important themes discussedin girls' youth clubs
• Gender stereotypes are generalizations about the roles of each gender
• Inaccurategeneralizations of the maleand femaleattributes
• Begin as soon as a baby's gender is found out
• Our society at large places a great emphasis on how women look
• Media is hugelyresponsible for creating and maintaining beauty standards: "The correlation
between media imageand body imagehas been proven; in onestudy, among European
American and African American girlsages 7 - 12, greater overall television exposure predictedboth
a thinner ideal adult body shape and a higher level of disorderedeating one year later“
Source: https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/the-medias-effect-on-womens-body-image
• Our gender is only a part of who we are, it does not defineus
• Changing deep-seatedbiases is hard but achievable
• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13sZkV1b7Pw
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6. GIRLS' YOUTH CLUBS IN FINLAND
• Youth clubs and youth work in general was initially designed focusing on boys' needs
• Youth clubs all over Finland faced a problem in the late 90s: girls were not coming to youth
clubs
• The absence of girls has been explained by the nature of boys; “boys are just more sociable
and active by nature, hence, the youth club is a place where the boys get together and
do 'boys’ things', such as play pool or watch sports”.
• "Girls have been left aside in youth work. Until around 70-80s, girls and boys were separated in
youth work. From 80s to 90s they were put together in youth clubs. At the end of the 90s, the
need for gender specific youth work was brought up and girls’ and boys’ spaces were
created all over the country". (Interviewee at Nicehearts)
• "Gender-specific youth work does not take away the fact that also working in mixed groups is
essential. But when girls become empowered first among other girls in a safe environment,
they will more likelybe empowered in the society as well". (Interviewee at Nicehearts)
• Now, girls only –youth clubs have been created in different cities in Finland (Espoo, Kuopio,
Oulu, Rovaniemi, Turku and Tampere).
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7. TYTTÖJEN TALO (GIRLS’ HOUSE)
• Situated in Kallio, at Hämeentie 13 A, the first one of 7 Girls' Houses in Finland (founded 1999)
• A registered trademark
• Run by Kalliola Nuoret ry, a subsidiary of Settlementtiliitto
• Funded by Kalliola Nuoret, City of Helsinki Youth Department, Ministry of Health and Veikkaus
• Is open three days per week for activities and workshops for girls aged 10-28 years
• Activities: gender-sensitive youth work, councelling, working with young mums (whose
pregnancy has began under when they were under 21 years, working with them can
continue after their 21st birthday), multicultural youth work, sexual health work
• Hosts the only low threshold and free of charge help for victims of sexual abuse for young
women (Väestöliitto has a similar service but on a much smaller scale)
• 10 employees
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9. NICEHEARTS RY
• Situated in Tikkurila, at Unikkotie 2C, an independent NGO
• Run by Nicehearts association
• Funded by Nicehearts association, the European Social Fund, Municipality of
Vantaa and Veikkaus, in addition has project funding
• Is open five days per week between 9 am & 5 pm for activities and workshops for
girls and women of all ages
• Activities: gender-sensitive youth work, multicultural work targeted at different age
groups, focus on learning new skills, helping out and getting to know people &
customs
• 14-15 employees
• Strong co-operation within the community, school visits etc.
• Lobbying
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10. NICEHEARTS
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11. WHAT ARE THE METHODS FOR
GENDER-SENSITIVE YOUTH ACTIVITIES?
• The meaning of gender is emphasized: gender is part of one's identity
• The girls are made visible as girls to themselves and others as young women
• The fundamental idea is to emphasize all kinds of girlhood and womanhood:
each person is unique
• Understanding the experiences what it is to grow to be a woman and
sharing those experiences with peers and adult women
• Taking the girls in for the planning and executing the activities and projects
• Offering adult woman company and being prepared to talk about all kinds
of gender related issues
• Talking about different ways of being a woman & discussing role models
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12. GENDER-SENSITIVE YOUTH WORK
IN ACTION
• The space is for females only – even visitors are female (in Nicehearts men
are allowed to visit, but all the girls and women are notified)
• The place is secure: the doors are locked
• The interiors are girly, feminine and beautiful
• The investment into the the interior design emphasises the importance of the
service users
• All activities are conducted in an all-female group
• There are special activities for different age groups – takes natural growth
into consideration
• Sense of togetherness emphasised
• Freedom to show emotions and participate as one wants
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13. OBJECTIVE OF GENDER-SPECIFIC
YOUTH WORK
• Nicehearts:
• Girls should grow up to
be women who actively participate in their society, become change-
agents themselves
• Create hope and confidence
• To reach a better place socio-economically
• To do better at school (they think of starting to measure the school success)
Tyttöjen talo:
• "Gender matters" (c)
• Strengthening the identities of young women in a social environment
• Encouraging girls and young women to listen to and respect themselves and others
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14. MULTICULTURAL ISSUES IN GENDER-
SENSITIVE YOUTH WORK 1/2
• Problem: What has thought to be ultimately best for young immigrant girls,has long
been defined from the Finnish perspective. Immigrant girls have been seen as a
homogenous group and not encountered as individuals
• However, at TT and NH multiculturalism is actively being considered and negotiated
--> stress the importance of cultural sensitivity
• Cultural sensitivity = being aware that cultural differences exist, without assigning
them a value - positive or negative, better or worse, right or wrong. In other words, it
means being aware that people are not all the same and recognizing that one's
own culture is not better than any other culture
• Everyone is encountered and treated as an individual -> no "labeling"
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15. MULTICULTURAL ISSUES IN GENDER-
SENSITIVE YOUTH WORK 2/2
• However, at TT and NH multiculturalism is actively being considered and
negotiated --> stress the importance of cultural sensitivity
• For many multicultural girls Tyttöjen Talo is is the first place, in which they
are approached as themselves. In the streets, at school and in many other social- and
health services, where one does not pay a special attention to meeting an individual, girl
becomes seen through her difference and as a representative of a group
• At TT, there is an employee who is an expert in multicultural issues--> in charge of all the
multicultural activities and multicultural groups
• At NH, all the girls regardless of their backgrounds are together in all activities and groups
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16. GIRLS’ PARTICIPATION
At both Tyttöjen Talo and Nicehearts, the girls are involved in the decision-
making process. This has been proved to have a bigger and more positive
impact on the girls. They plan the activities together with the adults.
Youth participation allows young people to engage in authentic participatory
techniques which...
• allow the full socio-cultural context shaping their expectations, life chances
and experiences to be revealed
• allows them to identify possibilities for change; and
• allows them to develop the capacity to take part in collective action in
pursuance of such transformation
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17. EVALUATING THE OBJECTIVES OF
YOUTH WORK 1/2
The Finnish Youth Act 2017 states that youth work should:
• Support growth & independence
• Promote active citizenship
• Empower young people socially
• Support growth
• Improve living conditions
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18. EVALUATING THE OBJECTIVES OF
YOUTH WORK 2/2
National Occupational Standards for Youth Work in the UK
• Facilitate the personal, social and educational development of young
people
• Promote equality and young people's interests and welfare
• Work with others: engage with young people, communities, network
• Develop youth work strategy and practice
• Lead and manage teams and individuals
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19. HOW ARE THE GIRLS' YOUTH CLUBS
ACHIEVING THEIR OBJECTIVES
Both girls'youth clubs we visited clearly achievethe set standards (The Finnish Youth Act & UK standars).
They
• Support growth & independenceby focusing on growth through both individualityand gender
issues
• Promoteactivecitizenship through their everyday work and overall goal (Nicehearts)
• Empower young people socially through their everyday work (especiallythe sexual violencework
at Tyttöjentalo)
• Support growth in all their activities and methods of working
• Improve living conditions through their overallgoal
• Facilitateeducational development through emphasis on school work and skills
• Promoteequality and young people's interests and welfare through gender work
• A clear focus is engaging with the serviceusers
• Strong emphasis on girls' own participation and initiative
• Develop youth work strategy and practice through extensive working hours and skill
• Leadership and management very lean
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20. REACHING THE GIRLS
• As mentioned, the problem in youth clubs has long been the lack of
participation of girls
• At Nicehearts, the girls are mainly reached through cooperation with
schools: curators from schools send girls (mostly the depressed, lonely) to NH.
Also the workers from NH go to schools and talk about the organization
• At NH, they have been able to create a sense of a community; the girls
activate each other
• At TT, they also collaborate with schools, and advertise their activities in the
social media
• The girls who come to these girls' spaces often suffer from loneliness,
depression, eating disorders, problems at home --> seek a safe place to go
and interact with other girls of same age and with adult workers
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21. GENDER EQUALITY IN FINLAND
• Women are not equal to men even in Finland
• Women receive 80 % of men's salaries
• Girls are still subjected to many stereotypical roles in society: girls are expected to be
quiet, be off center-stage, be nice & submissive, give in, and to exist to provide for
others' needs. (Interview: Jonna Saxberg)
• 20 % of high school girls and 30 % of occupational school girls have experienced
sexual harassment
• Women are discriminated in the working life due tue their possibility of getting
pregnant. Women are more prone to be offered temporary or part-time
employment, whereas men are more likely to receive long-term jobs
• Women are far less likely to become CEO's in companies
• Women are underrepresented in the parliament (117 men, 83 women)
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22. WORKING WITH SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Tyttöjen Talo offers:
• Individual councelling for 1-2 years, meetings 2-3 times per month
• Sexual Health Information & Help: contraceptives, day-after pills, advice
• Help with making a report of an offence to the police and a report to social services
• Support in court hearings
• Testifying at court hearings
• Connections to lawyers
• School visits
• Pop-up councelling
• Lobbying
• Nicehearts doesn't host this activity.
• There is a desperate need for low-threshold sexual violence counseling services in Finland
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23. WHAT IS SEXUAL VIOLENCE?
Video: The definition of sexual violence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4G2ZOAu1pE
• Sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or
advances or acts against a person’s sexuality using coercion by any person
regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not
limited to home and work.
Coercion can cover a whole spectrum of degrees of force, such as:
• physical force
• psychological intimidation
• blackmail or other threats – for instance, the threat of physical harm, of
being dismissed from a job or of not obtaining a job that is sought
• when a person is unable to give consent – for instance, while drunk,
drugged, asleep or mentally incapable of understanding the situation
• In no other crime there is such a strong victim blaming tendency
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24. MESSAGE OF THE SEXUAL
THERAPIST OF TYTTÖJEN TALO
• Is everywhere  touches girls and women from different backgrounds
• Is more common than we think
• The right to own one's own body and recognise what are one's rights and
what are the other person's rights
• The girls are afraid to speak about sexual violence
• In Tyttöjen talo mainly Finnish girls, from all around the Greater Helsinki area
• Immigrant girls are not coming to talk about their experiences in sexual
violence
• Co-operation with Contraceptive Advice Bureau, the police, schools,
municipalities, Association for victims of rape
• Funded by the municipality of Helsinki, Department of Health and Veikkaus
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25. "STOP IT AT THE START"
The Australian Government has launched ‘Stop It At The Start’ – a primary
prevention campaign, jointly funded by all governments, created by BMF,
aimed at reducing violence against women in future generations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_WcaIkWYuk
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26. CRITICISM 1/2
• Although the girls' spaces are designed to be places where girls can express their
unique selves and strengthen their self-esteem, the places seem to be very gender-
normative-> reinforce the standards of 'ideal' femininity in decoration, activities,
colors, etc.--> actually maintain the traditional ideas of what girls "are typicallylike"
• Trans-gender girls are said to be welcome in these girls' spaces- but it is questionable
whether they would feel comfortable in coming. None has come thus far
• No images of LGBT role models visible (as heterosexual are)
• The houses have very limited opening hours, no evenings or weekends
• Double –standards of communication: for girls the youth clubs are for everyone, for
the co-operating parties (schools, the social sector) the girls' houses have a social
service function
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27. CRITICISM 2/2
• Workers have convenient working hours (office hours)
• A lot of time –consuming bureaucracy away from actual work
• Old-fashioned activities – no digitalisation
• Where are the activities? Hidden in cupboards?
• Investments don't show on the IT side of things or otherwise
• No images of LGBT role models visible (as heterosexual are)
• How come they do not reach the service users?
• Is advertising really the key to success?
• Is keeping it girly a safe way to secure funding?
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28. POSITIVE FEEDBACK
• Excellent and brave work altogether
• Gender-sensitivity is important: what is it so intimidating about the male
gaze?
• Recognises both gender neutrality and gender blindness and works through
it
• Focus on growth relationships
• Focus on individual empowerment
• Focus on helping with issues of gender and sexuality, very delicate issues
• Raising awareness and helping girls who have experiences in sexual violence
• Extremely motivated staff
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29. ANASTASIIA'S OPINION
As long as I come from different background (country, faith) I have my own opinion on this
matter:
• As long as the space is made for majority and in majority (not all) girls like feminine
design (especially if they came from traditional cultures) I think majority of girls feel more
comfortable and like the space more when its design is nice, beautiful and girly-like
• I support "stereotypical" girly activities like: sewing, knitting, all kinds of hand-making activities,
dance etc. I'm not saying anything against other activities, everyone is free to choose what
they want, but I like the idea of girls going back to traditional activities.
• I support the idea of woman's and man's nature. I think we are equal but we are different.
• It would be great if in every girls-directed organisation there will be sexual-violence support.
We saw it in Tyttöjen Talo but in Nicehearts they don't have this department and they send
girls with this kind of problems to another place. I think sexual abuse is an extremely grave
issue in all countries. Thus, in my opinion it is great to have certain people who work with this
problem and support girls in it. So they would know that there is nothing to be ashamed of
and that the are certain people whose work is to help them and they will not be shocked
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30. REFERENCES
• Buchroth,I., & Parkin, C. eds. (2010). Using Theory in Youth and Community Work Practice,Exeter: Learning
Matters
• Eischer,H., & Tuppurainen, J. (2009). Tyttöjen talo on kuin avoin koti.Helsinki:Setlementtinuorten liitto ry
• Fitzsimons, A., Hope, M., Cooper, C., & Russell, K. (2011). Empowerment and Participation in Youth Work.
Exeter: Learning Matters
• Honkasalo, V. (2011). Tyttöjen kesken:Monikulttuurisuus ja sukupuolten tasa-arvo nuorisotyössä. Helsinki:
Nuorisotutkimusverkosto
• Kujala, E. (2014). Sukupuolisensitiivinen vapaaehtoistoimintaTyttöjen taloilla.Humak:
http://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/84373/Kujala_Elina.pdf?sequence=1
• Sapin, K. (2009). Essential Skills for Youth Work Practice. London: SAGE Publications
• Soni, S. (2011). Working with Diversityin Youth and Community Work. Exeter: Learning Matters
• Images:
• https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c6/25/86/c62586ca17c975f3dca03346a57da2b0.jpg
• https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAOmAAAAJDQ3NWJmNmViLTc0ZDYtNDQyYi1hNG
M5LTAyOTUzODkxMWRiNg.jpg
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32. COMPASSIONATE ENCOUNTER
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