Where eldest Daughters thrive
Home Girls Unite (HGU) is a community interest company uniquely supporting eldest, parentified and daughters from immigrant families. Our mission is born from the founders’ lived experience and a collective frustration with the lack of support. We aim to provide safe spaces where the eldest daughters can be seen, heard, and understood online and offline. We strive to amplify their voices, raise awareness of lived experiences, and empower them to lead happier and healthier lives.
Pressures and unreasonable expectations are often placed on eldest daughters. Many eldest daughters take on adult responsibilities as early as age five. This is also known as parentification, a pressing issue that impacts the development and future growth of many daughters. They carry the invisible weight of responsibility, caregiving, and cultural expectations. Our work aims to urgently understand these issues, acknowledge them, challenge them, and provide specialised and nuanced support to legitimise the problem and create awareness.
Eldest daughters deserve uninterrupted education, where their grades do not suffer because of familial responsibilities. They deserve to make choices that are not out of desperation; some daughters have rushed into marriage to get away from abusive and demanding families, losing their freedom and potentially putting them in further harm’s way. Eldest daughters experience financial abuse in different capacities, such as being forced to work and contribute to the family income at a young age.
With intersectionality at the centre of our work, we aim to challenge the burdens placed on eldest daughters, break cycles of generational trauma, and create pathways for healing and autonomy. Through peer support, resources, advocacy, and storytelling, we aim to build a world where eldest and parentified daughters no longer have to sacrifice themselves. Being the eldest daughter often builds resilience, independence, and leadership; these strengths should be used to uplift daughters themselves.
To amplify the voices of eldest daughters, raise awareness of their experiences and empower them to lead happier & healthier lives
The eldest daughter refers to the first-born daughter within the household. However, there are some instances where other birth orders within the family inherit the role. For example, the role may get passed to the middle or youngest daughter due to the following, this definition has been gathered from my experience in the organisation, and through conversations with other daughters who may not fit in the conventional definition of what the eldest daughter should be.
Being the eldest daughter comes with many feelings that we may not necessarily know how to unpack. Sometimes we just need someone to talk to, express ourselves and be heard.
These ranting sessions are a space to speak one-to-one with fellow eldest daughter, free of judgement, express your feelings, get general advice or just a space to talk.
Rant sessions are available on zoom or a phone call. If you are outside the UK, please make sure we can contact us on WhatsApp or Facetime Audio.
