Girl You Can Do Anything (Los Angeles) | 2020

Research overview: 

This report exists because girls in four focal neighborhoods of Los Angeles (LA) County - Crenshaw, East LA, Gardena, and Inglewood - were asked what they need, and Alliance for Girls rallied the champions and resources to relay their voices. These four neighborhoods were selected due to their historical and current experience of being cut off from civic, cultural, and capital resources in LA County. Through a mixed methods design, AFG collected data from 48 girls between 12-17 years old currently living and going to school in one of these four neighborhoods. These girls demonstrated how they are experts in their own lives and what they need to thrive, sharing their experiences and mapping out what they need to accomplish their dreams. This report details the landscape of girls’ experiences in these environments, with the goal of informing community stakeholders about what girls need to thrive.

Key findings: 

The key challenges that girls in these neighborhoods face include: gender based violence and strict gender norms that result in a lack of safety, resources and opportunities for them. The positive factors that support them are friends, family (especially their mothers) and sometimes school counselors.

Recommendations: 

Girls from these communities highlighted that they need committed champions and organizations to help ensure that multiple systems they contend with begin to center and value girls’ voices and expertise, especially girls of color.