Many  years  later  women  are  still  facing  challenges,  unemployment,  and  gender  violence  being  on  the  rise.  The  unemployment  rate  is  at  33.5%,  whilst  35.8%  of  that  percentage  are  women  (Brown,  2024).  Working  with  the  community,  especially  young  women,  we  are  exposed  to  these  numbers  daily,  showing  that  there’s  still  a  lot  of  intervention  needed,  one  thing  that  should  be  done  is  tackling  this  issue  from  the  root.

Intervention  programs  must  start  at  the  primary  school  level  till  post-high  school,  that  way,  more  young  women  would  be  empowered  to  make  better  career  choices,  be  more  confident  in  themselves,  and  have  enough  courage  to  stand  up  for  themselves  and  take  up  opportunities.

Most  of  the  young  women  in  our  communities  lack  confidence  in  themselves,  only  because  they  feel  inferior  and  haven’t  established  themselves,  and  that  is  due  to  the  lack  of  exposure  to  opportunities.  That  leads  to  them  taking  underpaying  jobs  to  earn  a  living,  and  some  take  the  route  of  being  mothers  only  to  receive  social  grants  as  well  as  to  have  the  fulfilling  role  of  being  a  mother.

All  these  factors  affect  the  already  high  rate  of  gender  violence  percentages,  as  some  of  these  young  women  stay  in  abusive  relationships  only  for  financial  gain.

These  are  the  issues  that  we  must  continue  fighting  in  our  communities,  and  they  require  us  to  take  a  stand  like  the  women  of  1956  did,  go  out  in  numbers,  and  fight  against  these  injustices  to  show  the  perpetrators  that  enough  is  enough,  as  well  as  the  government  that  we  are  tired  of  being  an  unemployed  youth.