YOUNG women living in some rural areas of Wiltshire face poverty, isolation and limited education and job opportunities, a report by a leading womens' charity has claimed.
The YWCA commissioned report Beyond the Bus Shelter Young Women's Choices and Challenges in Rural Areas, shows that young women living in the countryside are among the most severely deprived and excluded people in rural England and Wales.
The research focuses on Wilt-shire and the charity is calling for action from local and national policy makers to improve the situation, saying that if the Government is serious about tackling social exclusion, it must address the needs of rural young women.
The issue will be the focus of a YWCA fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference in Blackpool on September 30, which Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael will attend.
The YWCA's director of policy and campaigns, Mandana Hen-dessi, said: "What stands out in the Wiltshire research is the lack of awareness of the needs of young rural women among service providers.
"For those who did take account of issues involved for these young women, the difficulty they experienced in putting mechanisms in place to help overcome the barriers to the young women's social inclusion."
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