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IEDP Spring Seminar: Hate Crime
 The IEDP spring seminar took place on Thursday 2 March at Victim Support in central London, and was on the topic of hate crime.We had three excellent speakers: Paul Giannasi, Fiyas Mughal and Katharine Quarmby.
 Our first speaker, Paul Giannasi, is the Head of the Cross Government Hate Crime Programme, and he set the context and gave and overview of government action on hate crime. Paul explained that there is no one definition of what hate crime is, but the UK's stance is that the victim is chosen because of who they are or how they live there life. In order for a prosecution to be successful it is not necessary to prove hatred, only hostility. He advocated taking a human rights approach, and said everyone should have the right to live a life free from targeted abuse.
Paul gave a fascinating account of the historical context, picking out key events and cases. He talked about the government's 'Action Against Hate' plan, which was published in July 2016. then went on to outline the worldwide context of hate crime convictions. Finally he talked about the impact on victims.
 Our second speaker was Katharine Quarmby, co-ordinator of the Disability Hate Crime network, who very kindly stepped in at the last minute to replace Stephen Brookes MBE, who was unable to attend due to illness. Katharine talked about how she had become aware of a series of crimes targeted at disabled people that had not been treated as hate crimes and her involvement had started with an article she wrote on the subject for Disability Now magazine. She then went on to produce a report, Getting away with murder' based on 50 hate crimes.
Katharine explained that the role of the Disability Hate Crime Network is to scrutinise cases and try to ensure that they are recognised as hate crimes where appropriate. She commented that there has been an exponential increase in reported disability hate crimes in the past year, but she feels that this is an increase in reporting rather than an increase in occurrences, which is to be welcomed.
 Our final speaker was Fiyas Mighal of Faith Matters. Fiyas started by explaining what Islamophobia is, how it is not about people who don't like faith, and how he prefers the term 'Anti-Muslim Hatred' (AMH). He stressed the similarities between Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism, and he also pointed out that there is a huge gender element as the majority of the people targeted are women. Using figures from 'Tell MAMA', an organisation that measures anti-Muslim attacks he gave us some of the statistics:
- A lot of incidents take place on public transport
- 88% of AMH incidents reported from Twitter involved abusive language or harassment; 11% involved threats / violence
- 45% of online perpetrators of AMH were visibly supportive of far right extremist groups.
If you would like to see more photos of the event there are some here on the IEDP website
If you are a member of the IEDP you can find Paul's presentation here in the members' area of our website.
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IEDP accreditation dates
If you join the IEDP, or are already a member, you can apply for our accreditation process. You have plenty of time to apply for the next round, as the closing date for expressions of interest is 28 April 2017. Your application would need to be confirmed (and the fee paid) by 12 May and the deadline for the submission of your portfolio would be 30 June. Or if you need a bit more time and would prefer to be working on this over the summer, expressions of interest for the following round are due by 28 July for submission at the end of September. Further details on the accreditation page of our website
Membership reminder
Most IEDP members have paid their IEDP membership fee (due on 1 January 2017) by now, but for those people that may have overlooked it here's a reminder! As you know we have kept the cost of membership the same again for this year. Our individual associate membership is £110+VAT, with a reduced rate of £55+VAT for students, retired and volunteers. Don't forget there is also our team membership which is excellent value at just £550+VAT for a team of 6 to 30 people working for the same organisation. Full details of membership fees and benefits are on our website here.
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How languages change and evolve
 PG Tomlinson liked this Ted Ed video by Alex Gendler explaining how languages change and evolve over time. Click on the image to go to get to the video.
The 'private' photos of Marie Hoey and Bolette Berg
 Katrice Horsley recommended these amazing photos and the article by Paul Gallagher about questioning gender roles circa 1900, on the Dangerous Minds website. Click on the photo to read the article.
Tracey Ullman sketch
 Mary-Ann Nossent and Sue Burton both recommended this Tracey Ullman sketch about victim blaming, based on the idea of the police blaming a man for being mugged. This video is from the Daily Mail website but a lot of their readers didn't like it... Click on the photo to watch the video and judge for yourself!
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Introducing the Disability Action Alliance
 By Roland Chesters
The Disability Action Alliance was established by the Office for Disability Issues and convened by Disability Rights UK as part of the 2011 Fulfilling Potential discussions.
Five years later, the Alliance has a network of over 400 member organisations, from all across the country and from all sectors, committed to making a positive difference to the lives of disabled people. Through partnership working members have delivered tangible improvements to the lives of disabled people at both local and national level.
These achievements include
- the development, launch and on-going review of the Care and Disability Money Advice Service (MAS) website section;
- introduction of a ‘Safe Journey Card’ and driver training in Blackpool to improve the travel experience of disabled people, which is now being adopted in other areas;
- publication of ‘Inclusive Communities Guidance’ for Disabled People’s User Led Organisations and Local Authorities to better support local communities to include disabled people in decision making that affects their lives.
 We are just about to launch into the next phase of development of the Alliance with the creation of a website that will allow member organisations to interact directly with each other.
Joining the Alliance gives organisations
- greater opportunity to work in partnership with other Alliance members;
- access to information and resources on the DAA website;
- the opportunity to become involved in, and propose, DAA projects, including our key project ‘Disabled People’s Leadership in Public Life’
- the ability to promote of the fantastic work they do for and with disabled people.
To find more information please visit the DAA website: www.disabilityactionalliance.org.uk
or email us at DAA@disabilityrightuk.org.
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Sound statistics
Compiled by Ruth Wilson from recent research by The Fawcett Society
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Gender pay gap
- The gender pay gap (the average difference in hourly pay between men and women) for all full-time men and women in 2016 was 13.9%. In other words men in full-time work are paid on average 13.9% more per hour than women in full-time work.
- If you include the 42% of working women who work part-time this gap widens to 18.1%
Comparing women with white men
- Women from almost all ethnic groups are paid less on average than White British men
- The biggest pay gap is the 26.2% gap between Pakistani and Bangladeshi women (full and part-time) and White British men
- The only ethnic group that are paid more on average than White British men are White Irish women (in Great Britain not Northern Ireland)
Comparing men and women from the same ethnic group
- Indian women experience the greatest gender pay gap when compared with Indian men, which is 16.1%, compared to the 5.5% gender pay gap between Pakistani and Bangladeshi men and women
- There are only two ethnic groups in which the gender pay gap is reversed and women earn more than men; White Irish women and Black Caribbean women. Black Caribbean women on average earn 8.8% more than Black Caribbean men.
One to know about:
Progress on narrowing the pay gap
- Black African women have made very little progress in terms of narrowing the gender pay gap in the last 30 years, only 2%
- The pay gap has widened between White women who aren't British or Irish and White British men, probably because the composition of the group has changed over the last 30 years with an increase of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe
One to think about:
- White Irish women have made the most progress in the last 30 years; their full-time pay gap with White British men has narrowed by over 25%
Source
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We're all guilty of selective myopia on LGBT issues
 Elaine Bolton recommended this article by Dr Wilson Wong from the CIPD newsletter Click photo to read
Less than 10 per cent of employees feel comfortable disclosing mental health problems
 Denise Rabor suggested this article by Georgi Gyton from People Management Click photo to read
White men 'endangered species' in UK boardrooms
 Juliette Brown drew our attention to this article by Kevin Rawlinson in The Guardian about comments made recently by Tesco chairman John Allen. Click photo to read
Jews and Muslims defend trans rights
 Ruth Wilson was interested in this article by Nick Duffy in Pink News about faith leaders in America defending anti-discrimination protections for trans young people Click photo to read
Male violence is the worst problem in the world
 Liz Skelcher and Ali Belbin both recommended this article by Caitlin Roper in the Huffington Post about violence against women. Click photo to read
Ofsted's focus on white pupils hides ethnic minority underachievement
 Ruth Wilson was interested in this article by Laura Mcinerney in Schoolsweek Click photo to read
What we lose when we give awards to men like Casey Affleck
 Katrice Horseley drew our attention to this article by Sady Doyle in Elle Click photo to read
Compulsory sex education: human rights campaigners criticise government over get out clause for faith schools
 Eternal Life Church noticed this article by Rachael Pells in the Independent about the new law on compulsory sex education 'ignoring LGBT issues'. Click photo to read
Heterosexual couple lose civil partnerships challenge
 UK Human Rights blog noted this article on the BBC website about Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan's case lobbying for heterosexual couples to be able to have a civil partnership Click photo to read
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Europe has started to enshrine Islamophobia into law - history tells us this can't end well
 IEDP advisory friend Robin Richardson recommended this article by Sofia Ahmed in The Independent, which he describes as 'great and timely.' Click photo to read.
Racial inequality is 'factor in shaping gender pay gap' research finds
 Denise Rabor recommended this article by Catherine Wylie in The Independent, based on research by the Fawcett Society. Click photo to read.
Gay Afghans facing deportation told to 'Pretend to be straight'
 Wolverhampton LGBT Network drew our attention to this article by Meka Beresford in Pink News. Click photo to read.
Lack of pension equality for same sex couples 'is sexual discrimination'
 IEDP recently tweeted this article by Owen Bowcott in The Guardian about an interesting case being brought by John Walker with the support of Liberty. Click photo to read.
Man who got death threats after renouncing Islam reaches out to others
 The British Humanist Association recommended this article by Lara Keay in The Guardian about Imtiaz Shams, one of the founders of Faith to Faithless. Click photo to read.
Ofsted needs to realise that schools in poor areas can't just be judged on test scores
 Katrice Horseley liked this article by former headteacher Colin Harris in The Times Educational Supplement Click photo to read.
Drop in teenage suicide attempts linked to legislation of same sex marriage
 LGBT History Month pointed out this article by Nicola Davis in The Guardian about research comparing teenage suicide rates in American states that have legalised same sex marriage with those that have not. Click photo to read.
Forget the embarrassing mix up - the real story is Moonlight's historic win
 Another article linked to the Oscars was recommended by Kerstin Eadie. Aisha Harris, in State.com, points out that this is the first film with an LGBTQ central character to win the Best Picture award, and also the first overall winner starring black characters that is not about racism. Click photo to read.
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Fab films
This issue's videos have been recommended by Roisin Tooley, Ruth Wilson and Mary Ann Ellery
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Things invented by women
Roisin Tooley recommended this Channel 4 video issued on International Women's Day in response to recent remarks by a Polish politician
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What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure
Recommended by Ruth Wilson, this TED talk from October 2016 is by the American writer and journalist Peggy Orenstein, who has been interviewing young women aged 15 to 20 about modern sexual expectations and how they feel about their bodies.
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Mary Ann Ellery recommended this short film marking World Down Syndrome Day on 21 March
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Account of the last IEDP board meeting
By Ruth Wilson
 As usual, here is a brief account of the most recent IEDP board meeting. This was held on 2 March in London and was a face-to-face meeting
Finance
Management accounts for the period up to 31 January were briefly discussed.
Publicity and marketing
We now have 549 followers on Twitter and our objective is to grow this to 650 by the end of March. Our intern, Toro, has been working hard on this.
Advisory friends and board members
Bill Bolloten has resigned as an Advisory Friend as he is narrowing the focus of his work and moving abroad. The IEDP board would like to thank Bill for his support and in particular the articles he has written for the newsletter.
There was a discussion about succession planning for when Kate steps down as IEDP lead on accreditation.
Summer seminar
Ideas for the summer seminar were discussed, in terms of topics, speakers and venues. It was agreed that as the last two seminars have been in London we should try to hold the next one in a different city - probably Birmingham. The seminar will take place on the same day as the AGM.
Next meeting
The next Board meeting will be 2 May and will be a Skype meeting.
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Contact us
The Institute of Equality and
Diversity Professionals
2 Old College Court, 29 Priory Street, Ware, Hertfordshire, SG12 0DE
tel: 0844 482 7263
fax: 0844 8225 215
email: info@iedp.org.uk
web: www.iedp.org.uk
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And finally...
We hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter and would welcome any feedback or suggestions about how we could improve it for the benefit of our members. If you have any ideas for future editions or would be interested in writing an item for the next issue please contact Ruth Wilson on:
ruth@equalitiesineducation.co.uk
The deadline for contributions to the next issue is 12 May 2017. Please circulate this newsletter to anyone who may be interested in our work or who may wish to join the Institute.
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Hello and welcome to our spring newsletter! As we shake off the blanket of winter and embrace longer daylight hours and milder temperatures, hopefully we will feel better equipped to face the inevitable challenges that the year presents.
