Fact Sheet: Girls and Young Women by the Numbers

Girls are defined here as female persons under the age of 18 years and young women as female adults up to the age of 25.

Worldwide Footnote 1

  • Around the globe, girls are three times more likely than boys to be malnourished.
  • Of the world's 130 million out-of-school youth, 70% are girls.
  • Each year roughly two million girls between the ages of five and 15 are trafficked, sold or coerced into the sex trade.
  • Girls are disproportionately affected by certain harmful practices including early and forced marriage and genital mutilation.
  • Girls continue to face barriers to education and other basic services.

In Canada

  • Young women aged 15 to 19 are 10 times more likely than young men to experience dating violenceFootnote 2.
  • Adults who know of a case where there has been cyber-bullying or luring indicate that 71% of the victims are girlsFootnote 3.
  • Girls and young women are nearly twice as likely as boys and young men to suffer certain mental health issues such as depressionFootnote 4.
  • Girls experience a decline in self-confidence as they go through adolescence. In a national study, 40% of girls in grade 6 reported having self-confidence; by grade 10, the number had plummeted to just 18%Footnote 5.
  • Among healthy-weight girls in grades 6 through 10, more than one-third have a distorted body image.  A quarter think they are ‘too fat’ and another 13% think they are ‘too thin’Footnote 6.
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