Inside Out Team was selected as a Changemakers Team Award Winner for their passion to change gender stereotypes in Mongolia. The team consists of six high school girls including Enkhtuya, Nomin, Enkh-Undral, Gantsetseg, Bayasgalan and Munkhjin. It is the very first team award winner in the Asian Girls Campaign history.
The society in Mongolia doesn’t accept the individuality of girls but idealizes girls being pretty, thin, good at doing chores, being good future housewives and mothers as if these are the only things women offer. As the research shows, girls do house chores two to three hours more than boys. Especially around rural areas, girls spend more time taking care of their housework and family than girls in the city. They believe women have full rights to pursue higher education, maintain a career and succeed in everything they set their mind to. Their eagerness to stand against social injustices and their passion to make the society better brought them to the “girls’ leadership program” of Princess Center, and from there they became one team.
Based on their own and others’ experiences, girls and women, especially teenage girls, have found out that there are many problems, such as not being able to tell others about their problems, avoid expressing their desires fully, and prevent from talking to family and friends to get support. That’s why it is necessary to show their inner strength.
If there is a problem, be the one who finds the solution. Therefore, the Girls Voice Project is implemented. They want the girls to be confident and optimistic, so they want to be their loud voices.
They decide to create video contents to express their ideas, opinions, problems and solutions. Posters and news posts with information on how to protect girls’ rights, opinions and positions have been included. They talk about relationships, the society they want to live in, and they also include boys’ opinions in the videos. Besides, they have published posters about the menstrual cycle, girls’ rights, stories of powerful women in history, encouraging words and how to take ownership of their lives.
With the support of the Garden of Hope, they will be able to do more to empower the girls to gain confidence by showing the advantages of having their own voices. “In order to raise a happy, strong and compassionate woman, we need to raise her with love when she’s young. The greatest weapon of a woman is education.” Therefore, their top priority is to educate girls in every area and create opportunities for them.