Who cares? Children and young people's voices on gender equality in five European countries

Abstract

Despite the long list of international policy recommendations aimed at eradicating all forms of discrimination based on sex and gender, each European country continues to face different challenges. Involving younger generations in the analysis of real problems, through school and community initiatives, and respecting an integrated approach have been fruitful strategies to introduce gender issues into formal education. This was the aim of the Erasmus+ project "Equality in Action" (2019-2022), which involved five European countries. This article presents the perceptions of 114 students aged 14-18 from Portugal, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Slovenia on the five most important gender equality issues that remain unresolved in their countries, as well as their proposals for tackling them. As a result of the project's activities in each school and the exchanges between classes from different countries, the teenagers revealed that they had become aware of various areas of personal and collective life in which there are inequalities between women and men, resulting from a certain social order that can be corrected. The main conclusions of the study show how generations of young people can be involved in building a better society by being critical and attentive to themselves and to others. Finally, suggestions are made for future projects in the area of gender equality, in which the students' opinions are taken into account.