An introductory workshop presentation

1. Demystifying Equality:
An introduction to Equality &
Diversity
Facilitated by
Equality South West

2. Introductions
• Name
• Job Title
• What experience have you had of equality and
diversity?

3. Workshop objectives
• To understand what is meant by equality & diversity
• To understand what is meant by discrimination,
victimisation & harassment
• To understand the different types of discrimination
• To understand the basic legislative requirements
around equality & diversity
• To better understand how equality & diversity
impacts on the work of your organisation

4. We hope that the session
will be...
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Interactive (no question too daft)
Accessible for all
Jargon free (ish)
Uninterrupted by phones (unless urgent)
Respectful of everyone in the room

5. Diversity Bingo
• Collect 5 signatures, horizontally, vertically or
diagonally.
• The same person can sign more than once,
but not in the same line.
• You may not sign your own sheet.
• The facilitators may sign it too.
• The first person with 2 complete lines wins.

6. What is Equality & Diversity?

7. What is Equality?
Equality is...?
a)Treating everyone the same
b)Treating everyone according to their
needs
c)Treating everyone nicely

8. Equality is treating everyone according to
their needs.

9. 9 ‘Protected Characteristics’
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Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation

10. Real life experiences
A transman talks about his transition
from female to male and his experiences.
You Tube – Stephen Whittle

11. What do the protected
characteristics mean to you?
Age
Marriage &
Civil
Partnership
Disability
Se
x
Rac
e
Sexual
Orientation
Religio
n or
Belief
Pregnancy
&
Maternity
Gender
Reassignmen
t

12. What is diversity?
• the way in which we all differ ” – Clements and
Jones (2000)

13. Real life experiences
A young woman who is a natural size zero
describes how she was bullied at school and
has had to constantly justify her weight to
others.
You Tube – Sarah Whitehurst

14. What is Discrimination,
Harassment & Victimisation?

15. What is discrimination?
“…people being thought of as having different
worth or value, being treated differently or given
fewer opportunities because of their identities”.
(Learner Voice, LSC)
Three types of discrimination:
•Direct
•Indirect
•Institutional

16. Direct Discrimination
Direct discrimination occurs when you treat
someone less favourably than you treat (or would
treat) another because of a protected
characteristic.
E.g. Refusing to serve a customer because they are
Asian.

17. Indirect Discrimination
Indirect discrimination occurs when an
organisation has criteria, policies, procedures or
practices which, although they apply to all
employees or service users, have the effect of
disproportionally disadvantaging a particular
group or groups of people.
E.g. Putting in a job advert that a full UK drivers
license and access to a car is essential.

18. Institutional Discrimination
Institutional discrimination occurs when the
culture, policies, systems and procedures in
an organisation inherently discriminate
against a group or groups of people.
E.g. A garage that only recruits male
mechanics.

19. Real life experiences
A former self-harmer describes her
experience and why she now wants to help
others to stop.
You Tube – Tyfanny Booker

20. Harassment
Harassment is “unwanted conduct related to
a relevant protected characteristic, which
has the purpose or effect of violating an
individual’s dignity or creating an
intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating
or offensive environment for that
individual”.
E.g. A manager making homophobic jokes in

21. Victimisation
Victimisation occurs when an employee is
treated badly because they have made,
supported or are suspected to have made or
supported a grievance under The Equality
Act.
E.g. Being ignored by colleagues because you
took a grievance out against your manager
for sexual harassment.

22. Equality and The Law

23. Main purposes of The Equality
Act 2010
“To harmonise discrimination law, and to strengthen
the law to support progress on equality".
• Streamlines and combines previous legislation
to make things easier for businesses;
• Provides new measures to fight discrimination
• Extends previous protections to cover 7 equality
‘strands’ plus marriage and civil partnerships,
pregnant women and new mothers.

24. Headline provisions include
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New ‘Protected characteristics’
Age discrimination: goods, facilities and services
New definitions of discrimination
Banning pay secrecy clauses
Protections for carers
Positive action
Public Sector Equality Duty
Public procurement
Banning of pre-employment health questionnaires
Stronger protections for disabled people

25. Public Equality Duty
In the design and delivery of public services
providers must:
• Eliminate discrimination – 9 protected
characteristics
• Advance equality of opportunity between
people who share a protected characteristic
and those who do not
• Foster good relations

26. Equality & Me

27. Reflection, questions and forms

28. Workshop objectives
• To understand what is meant by equality & diversity
• To understand what is meant by discrimination,
victimisation & harassment
• To understand the different types of discrimination
• To understand the basic legislative requirements
around equality & diversity
• To better understand how equality & diversity
impacts on the work of your organisation