Learning to Take Space: My Reflections on Youth, Gender, and the Power of Speaking Up
For a long time, I believed that advocacy was something done by experts, lawyers, or people with big titles. As a young person, I often felt that my role was to listen, learn, and wait for my turn. It was only through my journey in youth spaces and advocacy work that I began to understand that change does not start with perfection or authority. It starts with presence. It starts with young people, especially young women, deciding to take space.
Growing up, I saw how gender shaped whose voices mattered. In community meetings, men often spoke confidently and at length, while women and young people sat quietly at the back. When young women did speak, their contributions were sometimes dismissed as emotional, inexperienced, or unrealistic. Over time, silence became normal. Not because we had nothing to say, but because we were taught, subtly and consistently, that our voices were less critical.
Youth gender advocacy challenges this silence. It asks difficult questions about power, representation, and whose experiences count. Through my engagement in youth advocacy spaces, I learned that gender inequality is not always loud or violent. Sometimes it looks like being talked over. Sometimes it looks like decisions are being made without those most affected in the room. Sometimes it looks like young people are being included only as a formality, not as equal contributors.
One lesson that has stayed with me is that advocacy does not always require confrontation. It often begins with courage. The courage to raise a hand in a room where no one expects you to speak. The courage to question decisions that ignore women and young people. The courage to show up again, even after being dismissed. These small acts may seem insignificant, but they slowly shift spaces that were never designed with us in mind.
As young women, we are often encouraged to be polite, agreeable, and patient. While these traits are not weaknesses, they become limiting when they silence our needs and experiences. Advocacy teaches us that it is acceptable to be firm, to ask for clarity, and to demand inclusion. It reminds us that gender equality is not about replacing one voice with another, but about creating space for many voices to exist and be heard.
Youth advocacy has also taught me the importance of collective action. Speaking alone can be intimidating, but speaking together creates safety and strength. When young people organise, share knowledge, and support one another, they challenge systems that rely on silence and isolation. This is where real transformation begins, not just in policies, but in mindsets.
Gender advocacy is not only about addressing discrimination; it is about imagining better futures. It is about creating communities where leadership is not defined by age or gender, but by ideas, integrity, and commitment. It is about ensuring that young women do not have to shrink themselves to fit into spaces that should already belong to them.
What inspires me most about youth gender advocacy is its honesty. Young people speak from lived experience. We talk about what it feels like to be excluded, underestimated, or ignored. But we also speak about hope. We imagine workplaces that are fair, communities that listen, and leadership that reflects diversity. Our advocacy is rooted not only in what is wrong, but in what is possible.
I have learned that advocacy is not a destination, but a practice. It is choosing, every day, to speak with intention, to listen with empathy, and to challenge injustice even when it is uncomfortable. It is understanding that progress may be slow, but silence guarantees stagnation.
To other young people, especially young women, I want to share this: your voice does not need permission. You do not need to know everything to speak up. Your lived experiences are enough, and your perspective matters. Take space, even when it feels unfamiliar. Ask questions, even when your voice shakes. Advocacy grows through use.
Youth gender advocacy is not about being loud for the sake of it. It is about being present, persistent, and purposeful. When young people take space, they do more than speak. They reshape the future.
