Three women's rights activists in Guernsey share their hopes for the future

• Three women's rights activists spoke to ITV Channel about the areas of life that could improve for women in Guernsey.

To mark International Women's Day, three advocates for women's issues in Guernsey have been talking about the changes they want to see on the island.

They have been selected by Women in Public Life as iconic woman under 30 who have the potential to make a positive difference to life in the Bailiwick and beyond.

Poppy Murray is a activist for women's safety on the island. She set up BE LADS, a campaign to educate men and boys about how they can play in a role in women's safety on nights out. It has since been added to the Guernsey's school curriculum for 16-year-olds.

Charlotte Long became Guernsey’s youngest douzenier at the age of 18. She says she wants to focus on promoting a wider range of young girls and female representation in all aspects of life, particularly politics.

Neurodiversity advocate, Harriet Aldous-Granby, works in the charity sector. But in her spare time, she uses her understanding of social media to spread awareness about the issues that are important to her.

They spoke to ITV Channel about the areas of life that could improve for women in Guernsey.

• How can Guernsey better support women?

Poppy: "That one day we're in the position that we don't need to be striving for change all the time. In particular, I'd like to see safer streets and a change in perpetrator behaviour."

Charlotte: "I'd like to see a wider range of young girl and female representation in all aspects of life, but politics in particular, as well as supporting women's health, safety and education."

Harriet: "I'd like to see more awareness of health conditions and neurodiversity. These things can really affect all parts of people's lives, and for women in particular, sometimes it's hard to get listened to and it's hard to get diagnosed with problems that are really causing issues."

• How do you intend to influence change?

Charlotte: "I think we should be allowing girls and young women the opportunity to experience politics and gain the knowledge they need should they wish to stand. This can be done by schools or youth clubs."

Harriet: "Something I really want to do is talk about it more. I think the more we talk about health conditions, neurodiversity, and what they are and what they mean, and how we can help, can really be the change we need to see."

Poppy: "I think in Guernsey we're really lucky that it's relatively simple to influence change. We have direct access to policymakers, we can talk to committees, we can talk to law enforcement, and I found that they're really receptive and they do listen to ideas to benefit the community."

• Why do you want to inspire change?

Harriet: "When women are diagnosed later with problems, it can really affect their confidence and their overall self-esteem. I was diagnosed a lot later with some conditions that I deal with now and I think that if I found out that earlier, I'd have been a lot better off. So if we make space for listening to women as much as we can, and understand that there could be differences in how they present with these problems, we can really make the community better for everybody."

Charlotte: "Change is good. We're moving with the times. These young people are our future of the island. They're the same people who will be sitting in the States for Deputy and in the Douzaine across the parishes, so I think it's really important that change is happening."

Poppy: "Unfortunately, a lot more still needs to be done for women's health and safety. It's excellent that we're all talking about it more, but unfortunately the reason we're talking about it is because it still happens so often."

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