Women's Views on News |
- Taking on workplace homophobia
- Lloyd’s appoints its first female chief exec
- Lady in Red: the original stage play
| Taking on workplace homophobia Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:39 AM PST
Stonewall has launched a national campaign to tackle the still endemic levels of homophobia in Britain's workplaces. The new campaign's posters feature two people and a slogan saying either: 'One is Lesbian' 'One is Gay' or 'One is Bisexual' along with 'If that bothers people, our work continues'. This One is Gay campaign is a response to YouGov polling which showed that in the last five years 2.4 million people of working age witnessed verbal homophobic bullying at work. A further 800,000 people of working age have witnessed physical homophobic bullying at work. Further polling showed that over a quarter of lesbian, gay and bisexual people are not at all open to colleagues about their sexual orientation. And one in five (19 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual employees has experienced verbal bullying from colleagues, customers or service users because of their sexual orientation in the last five years. One in eight (13 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual employees would not feel confident reporting homophobic bullying in their workplace. The posters will appear on nearly 650 buses in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh as well as on 4,000 advertisements on the London Underground. The campaign features workers from various careers and professions – including construction workers, footballers, priests, police officers and firefighters. Campaign posters will be made available to Stonewall Diversity Champion members, companies who together employ more than 6 million people in Britain. Stonewall is also calling on organisations to tailor the posters with their own logos and reproduce them in their workplaces and offices. Stonewall's deputy chief executive, Laura Doughty, said: “After securing equal marriage in England and Wales people mustn't forget the huge amount of work still to be done. “No one should be under any illusion that it's 'Mission Accomplished. “In workplaces right across the country, gay people still don't feel able to be themselves. It's time to change that once and for all.” And you can help. Have you seen the campaign posters on buses or tube carriages? Take a picture and send it to Stonewall. You can either Tweet it – using @stonewalluk or #LotsToDo or email. Share the campaign posters with your friends, family and in your workplace. Feel free to right-click the pictures here and select ‘Save as’ to download the posters. You can also ask your employer what they're doing to tackle homophobic bullying and abuse, given that everyone has the right to feel that they can be safely themselves at work. For information on how Stonewall supports employers to build gay-friendly workplaces, click here. We really do need eradicate workplace homophobia once and for all.  |
| Lloyd’s appoints its first female chief exec Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:34 AM PST
Inga Beale is a 30-year veteran of the insurance industry, and she takes leadership of the world's largest insurance market, Lloyd's of London. Only 40 years after the first woman, Liliana Archibald, began working as a broker in the company. In an interview Beale gave while in her previous role as chief executive of the Canopius Group, she mentioned the business case for more diverse leadership. “It's good to have diversity, not just on the gender side. “Different people approach things differently and provide alternate views – diverse boards help companies makes better decisions, which affect the bottom line.” While Beale's appointment has been applauded, executive director of Catalyst Europe Sibylle Rupprecht's reaction reveals a weariness in the on-going battle for gender equality; “All I want for Christmas is to stop counting the firsts for women in leadership. “The advancement of women isn’t hard; it just requires intentional focus and leadership. And it can literally pay off.” Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail and one of only four female FTSE 100 chief executives, agreed. She lays the onus for equality on executives, saying; “There is no shortage of great female talent in Britain. “If people like me, when they get the list from executive recruiters, do not ask 'Where are the women?' who is going to say it?” Part of Lord Davies' 2011 review of women on boards recommended a minimum of 25 per cent female board membership by 2015. Following that announcement, the percentage of women in the FTSE 100 increased fairly quickly, from around 12 per cent to more than 17 per cent. However, in the years since, the rate of growth has slowed considerably, with the percentage of women in senior leadership positions hovering around 19 per cent. The 2011 recommendations were voluntary for businesses, with Davies’ review saying that mandatory quotas were unnecessary unless voluntary participation proved ineffective. With only a year to go, it appears likely that many companies will to fail to reach the recommended 25 per cent rate of female representation. As Rupprecht said, “The statistics tell us that without a focused intent on making this a priority, change is simply not going to happen. “Can we afford to keep 'giving it time?'’  |
| Lady in Red: the original stage play Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:09 AM PST
It has been hailed by audiences across the UK as the best play about domestic abuse ever written. 'In the darkness a small, grey table is warmed by a blue light. On it, a miniature Christmas tree with baubles and the lights turned on, a small, brightly-wrapped gift, a glass and a bottle of gin. Either side of the table sits two grey chairs, one toppled over and in the background Chris De Burgh's song 'Lady in Red' begins to play. 'Gradually, the lights rise on Rose, a woman in a red dress facing away but swaying in time to the music. In her hand, she holds a glass of gin, her other hand gently caressing the side of her body. 'As she turns, her face is bruised with a red cut across her throat.' And so it begins – the journey of Rose, the 'Lady in Red'; her inner turmoil following another incident of domestic abuse at her home. I remember watching this play by Claire Moore and John Woudberg of Certain Curtain Theatre Company late last summer. I had never seen it before but knew it was an award-winning drama exploring one woman's struggle to break the 'chains of love'. I didn't appreciate just how emotive it would be. The hairs on my body stood on end from the moment the lights in the theatre dropped. Reading the original stage-play has had the exact same effect, I was gripped from the moment I read the opening paragraph depicting the scene outlined above. It's Christmas Eve and Rose awakes to find she has no memory of who or where she is. As she gradually weaves the threads of her memory together, a dark and violent pictures begins to emerge. Compelled to leave for fear of her life, Rose begins to pack, but it's dark outside and the house is full of strange noises. Will she escape before her attacker returns? Or is he still in the house? The stage play throws you straight into Rose's head, a mother and the victim of ongoing domestic abuse. Her narrative is the only dialogue contained within this play which has an extraordinary impact on the audience as you find yourself quickly drawn into the unfolding drama, uncertainty and entrapment that Rose experiences. The play showcases the inner battle a victim endures in their quest to leave their abuser and it highlights just how difficult the decision to leave is. I cannot fault the play for the insightful and thought provoking way in which it educates the audience about the power and control mechanisms used by the abuser to destroy the victim. It uses symbolism and rhyme in an effortless way to dramatically define the intricacies of domestic abuse victim's life. 'Red on my dress, red on the floor, red on the walls…and red on the door, red in my hair, red on his coat…red on the knife he held at my throat!…Was that his 'special knock'? Is that the sound of his key in the lock?' Rose voices her terror through prose so real and clear the audience experiences her anxieties, her loss at where to turn, her inner battle with love and fear. Lady in Red highlights just what it's like to be a victim of domestic abuse; self-esteem crushed and autonomy lost. It highlights just how difficult it is to leave an abusive relationship. It highlights the level and strength of control an abuser holds over the victim. And what is so clever is that this is done through one voice. The voice of the victim. And that is what is truly compelling about this stage-play. Finally, the victim's voice is heard. And what a powerful voice it is. If I have to be at all picky, my only gripe with the stage-play in its written format is the editing. There's a few typos, a few grammatical errors which detract from the reading, but the story and the message contained within are so powerful it's not hard to instantly ignore these. I loved the play, although given the theme of Lady in Red, 'loved' feels like the wrong word, but love it, I did. I loved how it had me gripped to my seat, how the audience was silenced, I loved how the after-show discussion got people talking about the victim, about her life and her decisions and I loved how it so obviously made people think about things from the victim's perspective. The questions from the after-show discussion are included at the end of the alongside information on recognising abuse and with lots of sources of support – a truly valuable addition. If you've not read the original stage play or seen the production I urge you to. If you are an organisation working with victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse then this is a must-have tool for discussion and education. And if you're one of those people who asks: 'why don't they just leave?', well, Lady in Red answers your question to the point where you will never allow yourself to ask it again. Lady in Red is published by Tallheart Publishing and has a foreword by Professor Liz Kelly.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |