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Paying the price for equality

8th November 2009

Martin told how was stabbed in the back with a pen knife in 1986 while running away from a group of youths aged 12 to 18. "It just missed my kidney," said Martin, who had unknowingly parked his car near a park well known for cruising.

Two years later when he moved house with his partner, notices appeared on the railings opposite declaring "kill a queer."

Five years ago, he was attacked outside his house. "I was karate kicked, resulting in a broken jaw, four broken ribs and damage to my eye," said Martin.

Addressing an Eastern/London region equality seminar in Cambridge, Martin recalled that how when a member of the McPherson inquiry, the then Bishop of Stepney John Sentamu said he realized through the inquiry that there was institutionalized homophobia just as there was institutionalized racism.

Martin also highlighted how there were problems over law enforcement in the area of homophobic crime with under reporting because victims did not believe the crimes would be properly investigated. Police resources devoted to the area of investigating LGBT crime had been cut back.

"People may not report a crime because they are afraid and it can involve outing for many people," said Martin, who recalled in his own case that the police had obtained a DNA match on his assailant but there had never been any report back about anything happening.

"Under reporting is due to fear of reprisals and a belief that the police don't take these crimes seriously," said Martin.

Martin also told how homophobic bullying had increased in schools. This has been partly due to cutbacks on teaching around HIV issues which had reduced bullying due to a greater understanding among pupils.

Martin highlighted how faith has been used by some as an excuse to act in a prejudicial and homophobic way. "The mainstream religions are based on justice, solidarity and values that unite people," said Martin, who called for better work based monitoring systems to measure levels of homophobia in the workplace.

CWU equalities officer Linda Roy declared the union's desire to see equalities officers given the same rights to paid status as health and safety reps.

Linda highlighted how women were not being treated equally and ethnic minorities not represented in the higher echelons of business.

She told how the recession was resulting in disabled workers being targeted. "They are being singled out and taken off of the duties that they have been on for the disabled," said Linda. "We must not given up and continue to challenge discrimination whenever we see it."

TUC equalities officer Narmanda Thiranguna highlighted how women are being hit particularly hard by the recession. "Women in London are losing their jobs at a faster rate than men," said Narmanda, who told how the TUC is pushing a report on family friendly rights.

Narmanda told how the UK economy had been kept afloat during the prosperous times on the back of a raft of low paid women. "Women are disproportionately more likely to be living in poverty. As trade unions we need to look to women's low pay. Equality must be placed at the centre of recovery," said Narmanda, who pointed out that only 3 per cent of sex discrimination cases succeed at tribunal.

Steve Radcliffe , youth project worker at the CWU, revealed how there had been resistance in some quarters to youth, resulting in a dozen or so bad cases where people have walked away. "The majority of these have been young women," said Steve, who emphasised the need to change the culture of the union to be more open to youth.

Jeff Till of the Disability & Special Needs Advisory Committee (DSNAC) told how he had successfully campaigned to get a good dyslexia policy adopted by the CWU.

Geoff told how as a dyslexia sufferer he felt excluded on courses at Alvescot. The successful policy was achieved by dealing directly with people who experienced the condition rather than imposing something on the basis of assumption as has happened in the past.

Michael Greenwood of solicitors Edwards Duthie warned of the danger that the single equalities bill may not make it into law before the next election and if it does it could be emasculated beyond recognition.

Among the highlights are new definitions for pregnancy and maternity leave removing the need for comparators and a new provision of harassment from third parties.

Another provision will see employers having to publish rates of pay.

Kay Allen, head of social action and inclusion at Royal Mail, told how a good equalities policy can be beneficial business wise.

Kay explained how 13,000 sub-post offices and Crown offices had been audited on equalities policy. "So we now know about access, where we have steps and ramps," said Kay, who told how a good equalities policy can be used in tenders for contracts like that for the TV licence.

The exercise had involved a monitoring exercise of the Post Office and Parcelforce. "RM has got some fantastic policies on equality well ahead of other lauded companies like B&Q and IBM," said Kay, who questioned why though there were reports of bullying and harassment little was coming through on the RM or CWU helplines.

Head of Diversity Practice at BT, Dennis Gissing highlighted how the BT workforce provides a microcosm of society with 10 per cent from ethnic minorities, 32 per cent over 50 and one in seven having caring responsibilities at some point. He told of BT's efforts to benchmark on equality standards.

Dot Gibson, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, attacked the worsening levels of healthcare and social provision. "We are the generation that must say not any more to privatization of social care provision," said Dot, who warned of low grade staff looking after patients in care homes.