Girl Guides

Girl Guides
A Girl Guide Company in the United Kingdom, 1918
CountryWorldwide
United Kingdom (origin)
Founded1909
FounderAgnes Baden-Powell
 Scouting portal

Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909, when girls requested to join the then-grassroots Boy Scout Movement.[1]

The movement developed in diverse ways in a variety of places around the world. In some places, girls joined or attempted to join preexisting Scouting organizations.[2] In other places, all girl groups were started independently; some would later open up to boys, while others merged with boys' organizations. In other cases, mixed-sex groups were formed, some of which sometimes later disbanded. In the same way, the name "Girl Guide" or "Girl Scout" has been used by a variety of groups across different times and places.

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) was formed in 1928 and has member organisations in 145 countries.[3] WAGGGS celebrated the centenary of the international Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Movement over three years, from 2010 to 2012.

  1. ^ Mills, Sarah (2011). "Scouting for Girls? Gender and the Scout Movement in Britain". Gender, Place & Culture. 18 (4): 537–556. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2011.583342.
  2. ^ "Girlguiding – The history of changing girls' lives". Girlguiding. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  3. ^ World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. "Membership". Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2013.