14 Jan 2022

Diversity Lens - Issue 109

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Jan 14

Diversity Lens - Issue 109

Welcome to Diversity Lens.

As we trudge through another pandemic January, Blue Monday approaches. Famed as the most miserable day of the year, the January blues are often felt most acutely this coming Monday. If you're in that state of mind already, please feel free to stop reading here - take a couple days out from the gloomy news surrounding us and do something kind for yourself instead. We love uplifting news outlets Positive News and Good Good Good for nothing but life-affirming stories.

"Novak Djokovic’s Detention Exposed Australia’s Brutal Border Regime" Novara Media

“It’s been nine years with no one paying attention to the humanitarian disaster unfolding here”

Mehdi is a refugee being held indefinitely in an immigration detention centre in Melbourne. The same one that tennis champion Djokovic was held in this week due to failing to meet the country's entry requirements - proof of double vaccination.

Mehdi fled from Iran to Australia aged 15; he's been held in various detention centres for the last 9 years. Yet when Djokovic's detention hit headlines, reporters swarmed to the site, shining light on the conditions of the detainees.

“They are keeping him like a prisoner,” Djokovic's mother said in a press conference, "it's not fair, it's not human" - a sentiment shared by Mehdi and, I am sure, countless other refugees.

Yet it seems much of public attention began and ended with the tennis star - see Nigel Farage.

Released after four nights, reporters disappeared from the site. While jubilant Djokovic fans celebrated, refugee advocates remain indignant. Occasionally they would chant “free them all” but mostly they stood in a solemn silence, The Guardian reports.

The Nationality and Borders Bill threatens to align the UK with Australian border policies in a devastating move that would criminalise asylum seekers arriving by sea.

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

Paralympic swimmer Will Perry 'sick to death' of dwarfism abuse

"Do you know what it's like to be looked at and laughed at every single day?", Will Perry, British Paralympian, asks us. He opens up about the daily abuse he experiences from pointing and laughing, to unsolicited photography. In media, dwarfism is often represented comically and this bleeds into how the public view and react to people with dwarfism, he explains. Will Perry demands better from us.

Racist abuse has made me scared to do my job, says MP

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, opens up to BBC 1Xtra podcast on the kind of racist abuse she would experience while working for Diane Abbott, such as death threats, hate slurs, and all kinds of harassment. Ribeiro-Addy touches on the lack of support for MPs receiving abuse, other than among peers: "Definitely having more black female MPs means that you have more people to lean on when something like that happens". Unfortunately, this kind of racial discrimination against MPs is not rare with Labour MPs Dawn Butler and Zarah Sultana among others also being vocal about the racism they experience on the job.

Pose star MJ Rodriguez comments on becoming first trans woman to win a Golden Globe

Rodriguez was awarded Best Actress in a TV Drama this week for her performance in the groundbreaking drag-scene drama, Pose. The Golden Globes might have bypassed your attention this year as they went ahead untelevised, with very little media attention, due to a boycott around their historical lack of diversity.

Rodriguez expressed her gratitude via Instagram, writing, "This is the door that is going to open the door for many more young talented individuals" and “LOVE WINS. To my young LGBTQAI babies WE ARE HERE the door is now open now reach the stars!!!!!”

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

EVENT How to put inclusivity at the heart of your job description process

Despite an increase in awareness of the issues around D&I, actions are not progressing in line with the conversation. So how can we get serious about this business critical aspect of not just hiring but development and growth?

Co-founder of Diversifying.io, Cynthia Davis, joins HR world to investigate and provide meaningful tips for inclusive hiring practices. Join us!

‘I’ve realised my dreams’: the refugee entrepreneurs who are thriving in the UK

A 30-year study shows that refugees are not a 'burden' for Western European countries, but in fact have a positive effect on economic performance. Typically within five years of arrival, their so-called 'burden' is "more than outweighed by the increase in tax revenues". Positive News shines a spotlight on three refugee-owned businesses thriving, with the help of social enterprise The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network.

"TERN research suggests that up to 80 per cent of refugee businesses focus on making the world a better place"