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'It feels like a world apart' – investigating why one of the worst places to be a woman in the UK is next door to the best

When ´óÏó´«Ã½ Woman's Hour conducted a poll to find out where the best and worst places in the UK to be a woman were, it was possibly not expected that the best and one of the worst would be so close together.

Darren McGarvey's Scotland met with family counsellor Kirsty Giles, who spoke to the host on top of a golf course that has a panoramic view of East Dunbartonshire – the best place to be a woman in the UK – and West Dunbartonshire – one of the worst places.

A World Apart

West Dunbartonshire is the worst place in Scotland to be a woman.

West isn't best

The golf course is an excellent vantage point that has a great view of both East and West Dunbartonshire – allowing Kirsty to explain to Darren just how striking the differences between two places so geographically close to each other are.

“Up here it’s quite striking that [East and West Dunbartonshire] are not that far apart but, to me and my experiences, they’ve felt like a world apart.

"West Dunbartonshire has some of the highest rates of domestic abuse across Scotland; East Dunbartonshire came out as the best place in the UK for women to live.

“So the contrast is quite striking actually… it sort of makes me a bit speechless.”

Women from East and West Dunbartonshire meet

East Dunbartonshire in Scotland is ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Best Place to be a Woman 2017. Next door, West Dunbartonshire came near the bottom of the list. How can the quality of life be so different for women who live so close?

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