17 Dec 2021

Diversity Lens - Issue 107

Diversity Lens - Issue 133 Diversity Lens - Issue 132 Diversity Lens - Issue 131

Dec 17

Diversity Lens - Issue 107

Welcome to Diversity Lens.

As we approach the end of another challenging year, we would like to thank our subscribers, new and old, for your continued support of our mission and purpose.

This week we are focusing on some positive initiatives happening across the UK, such as the Five X More campaign, calling for better maternal healthcare for Black women and birthing people, and LGBTQIA+ training for Museum, Archive and Library staff in Wales. We hope that this offers a welcome break from the Omicron-dominated news at the moment.

This will be our last newsletter of 2021, but before you go, check out some of our highlights in the midst of a really tough year. Stay safe, and we'll see you in the new year.

The campaign calling for better maternal healthcare for Black women and birthing people Gal-Dem

Have you seen this image before? It's gone viral due to one very simple reason: most people have never seen a diagram of a baby in utero in a body that wasn't white. In fact, the overwhelming majority of medical imagery uses the white body as standard.

This imagery reinforces the stark inequalities in healthcare. In the UK, if you are Black you face a much higher risk of death and health complications during pregnancy. Two women, Tinuke Awe and Clotilde Rebecca Abe, co-founded 5 X Moreto address the maternal healthcare system that was routinely failing Black women and birthing people.

Despite the issue receiving increasing attention, Black people are still four times more likely to die in childbirth and pregnancy.

Five X More demand better. They've conducted a landmark Black maternity experience survey, prompted debates in parliament and partnered with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to advise healthcare professionals on more inclusive practice.

They also co-founded the annual campaign, Black Maternal Health Awareness Week, the second of which took place in September with a focus on solutions to Black maternal mortality concerns.

The above illustration was created by Chidiebere Ibe, an aspiring Nigerian neurosurgeon who has shared his Black centered medical illustrations online.

"When medicine first started it evolved from the norm - which essentially was the white male. Everyone else has been included in that system but not necessarily on an equal footing."

Dr Christine Ekechi

Text: IN OTHER NEWS. Background image shows picture of protestors.

Strictly star inspires sign language lessons surge

Rose Ayling-Ellis, the first deaf contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, has reached the final. Since her appearance on the show, one BSL teaching school claimed enrolments have gone up by more than 2,000%. Google trends reflect this surge in interest.
Jason, a BSL teacher, says people now want to "be better allies to the deaf community".

New research shows the gender pay gap has seen “barely any change”

The average working-age woman in the UK earned "40% less than her male counterpart" in 2019, research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies released this month has found. The gender pay gap is only 13 percentage points lower than it was in the mid-1990s, according to the report. This slight closure of the gap comes as a result of an increase in education for women, now 5% more likely to have a university degree than men. IFS believes that more can be done to leverage the gap as very little progress has been made beyond education in reducing the gender earnings gap since 1995.

"Women still take the bulk of parental leave and are more likely to reduce their hours, find a more family-friendly but lower-paying job, or stop work altogether after having children."

The Guardian

Museum, Archive, and Library staff in Wales offered LGBTQ+ training

The Welsh government is funding a new initiative to showcase LGBTQIA+ history in local museums, archives and libraries. They will fund a series of Language and History training sessions with the aim to make their collections more inclusive and representative.
Friend of the newsletter, Laila El-Metoui, alongside Norena Shopland, co-designed and co-delivered five interactive bespoke sessions to equip staff with the skills and knowledge to enact this initiative.

Text: ENTER THE WORK SPHERE. Background image shows picture of protestors.

Learning disabilities and the workplace: Michael's story

The Advocacy Project want to change the way people with learning disabilities participate in the workplace and ensure their voice is heard. In this video series, they platform voices that aren't often heard in our society, and highlight the value that they could add to the workplace, when given the opportunity and the right support.

Watch Michael tell his story.

Home Office’s pre-settled status move could add to labour shortage

People who have not yet lived in the UK for five years are now being assigned “pre-settled status”, meaning they will have to reapply for the right to remain in the country. Among the many fearful consequences of this move by Home Secretary Priti Patel, is the effect this will have on the already struggling labour market. The care sector is predicted to particularly suffer; currently "care workers can’t be sponsored under our new immigration system, although senior care workers can."