Campaign group shocked to hear women are being put off voting
Results of a Future Guernsey survey has shocked a campaign group supporting women in politics.
New political movement group Future Guernsey yesterday revealed that results of its survey that showed that women were being put off from voting. Twice as many women as men told researchers that they were unlikely to vote in this year’s election.
Women in Public Life said this news was surprising.
‘We’re surprised by the Future Guernsey findings because we’ve always taken comfort from the electoral roll in Guernsey which has consistently had more women signed up than men – 1,351 more women in 2020 to be exact,’ said WIPL chairwoman Shelaine Green.
‘We do know though that there isn’t enough easily accessible information about how Guernsey politics works and it’s one of the factors putting women off standing. That’s why we created our thriving Politics WhatsApp Group, which provides bitesize information about what’s going on in the States, including live reporting of States meetings. If any woman saw that Press headline and thought “That doesn’t apply to me, I’m definitely voting”, they’d be really welcome to join”.’
The Guernsey and Alderney Wellbeing Survey 2023 published last week revealed that a higher proportion of males than females agreed or strongly agreed that they have a say in what the government does, 12.3% of males compared to 8.5% of females.
Within each sex, results were relatively stable across the age categories. One notable exception is males aged 16-24 where only 0.9% agreed or strongly agreed that they have a say in what government does.
Information on the WIPL politics group can found here.
