Programme Specialist from United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Tonni Brodber, addressing participants at the workshop. (C. Pitt/BGIS)

Young women today are faced with more challenges than they were in the past.

This is the view of Programme Specialist from United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Tonni Brodber, who was speaking at the National Task Force on Crime Prevention’s, ???Girl Talk’ Workshop, which was held in observance of International Women’s Day, at the Savannah Hotel, yesterday.

Ms. Brodber said: "Being a young woman today is so much more challenging than it was even five years ago…. There are constant pressures through images and messages to be the best at the latest dances, to be the sexiest, to attract the most men. So many of the songs speaking to a woman’s attributes focus on the physical … There isn’t as much global emphasis on being the smartest, the most poised.??

Just looking at those who are the most successful and sustainably so, you will see very clearly which focus between the physical and mental, is the most sustainable."

The Programme Specialist added that there was a need for young women to "be and feel empowered."

"Taking your space is a critical element in empowerment – No more going to the back of the room (classroom or otherwise), take the space available at the front.?? You can hear better, learn and contribute more from this vantage point," she urged.

Ms. Brodber encouraged the young women not to lose sight of the social graces, deeming them necessary and important to one’s wellbeing.

??"Etiquette and social graces may sound old fashioned, but how you present yourself to the world is reflective of how people will react to you. When you walk with self-respect, dignity and pride, people respond accordingly. There will always be those who may be dismissive because of your youth or sex, but you mustn’t let that deter you. Live in a way that proves your detractors wrong," she told the gathering.

aisha.reid@barbados.gov.bb

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