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What do women need?

Broadcast date: 12/10/15

A new report just released by the Women’s Legacy Fund (WLF), an endowed field of interest fund of The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo, shines a light on significant issues affecting women and girls in our community. 

Using gender-specific data from existing research the new report identifies some of the most pressing needs in our community, such as chronic sadness, rape and binge drinking, which each emerged as significant issues in the report. The WLF believes that identifying these problems is the first step in being able to address them, and addressing them would make a great resolution for the New Year.

Among the most compelling facts in the report: 

  • Chronic sadness is a growing problem among teenage girls. More than 40% of 9th-grade and 11th-grade girls in San Luis Obispo County say they felt so sad and/or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks last year, they stopped doing some of their usual activities.
  • The rate of reported forcible rape in San Luis Obispo County is almost double the statewide rate – 39 per 100,000 population here versus 20 per 100,000 population statewide.
  • Local women 21 and older engage in binge drinking much more than women statewide, with 46% reporting an episode in the past year, compared with 33% statewide.
  • Latinas make up 28% of the female teen population in San Luis Obispo County and account for 56% of the teen pregnancies.
  • More than 25% of women 75 and older say they have difficulty living independently

Join host Kris Kington Barker as she speaks with representatives from the San Luis Obispo Women’s Legacy Fund, Robyn Letters, with Opinion Studies, and Suzanne Parker, with the Fund’s Advisory Committee as they discuss their newest report on the issues impacting women and girls in San Luis Obispo County and talk about how they will use this information to focus their efforts.

Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX and made possible through underwriting by Joan Gellert-Sargen.

Kris Kington-Barker is co-host of Central Coast Voices, heard every Thursday on KCBX from 1:00—12:00 p.m. Kris has worked in healthcare fields ranging from mental health to hospital administration, and has served as a volunteer and board member for many Central Coast non-profit organizations.