Equality & Diversity 

By looking at books and websites there is no balance but there is Law. Do you disclose what you have to to be acceptable and not discriminated against? In the eye's of the Law you have a right to, but we are all being discriminated against by society. A fear of the unknown, how do we deal with something that is different from ourselves. Language, age, sexuality, race, disability this is where discrimination comes into play!

What is Equality & Diversity?

NHS WEBSITE

Equality is about ‘creating a fairer society, where everyone can participate and has the opportunity to fulfil their potential’

 equality, diversity and human rights as defining values of society - Promotes equal opportunities for everyone! Age, gender, disability, race.

Examples of discrimination where discussed within the group, we had all been victims of some for of discrimination and we also all discriminate in one way or another on a daily basis. The friends we choose the people we sit next too. 

Here are some of the images and websites that I have been looking at for my research into Equality & Diversity.

Nationality.  

http://www.fightdiscrimination.eu/content/winners-fight-discrimination-europe-photo-contest-announced

This site at Amnesty International. I found some images that have been produced that show examples of equality & Diversity across Europe. There was a competition whereby photographers could produce images to show social attitudes across Europe. 

Some of the images show families in poverty, destruction to buildings.

Race

Racism is a form of discrimination that stems from the belief that groups should be treated differently  according to phenotypic difference. It is widespread in the UK. 

Racism has many forms; direct attack is less common than perceived discrimination in interpersonal communication, or inequity in the receipt of services or justice. It is easier to measure discriminatory acts such as racist attacks, but some believe that everyday minor incidents or slights (micro-aggressions) and the perception that society is discriminatory may have a greater impact on the individual's health (Laveist, 1996). Measurement of perceived racism is complicated by its possible overlap with paranoid ideation and an external locus of control. However, ‘paranoia’ may represent a healthy coping strategy in a discriminatory environment (Sharpley et al, 2001

These above quotes are from The Royal College of Psychiatrists website. 

Age

Different forms of age discrimination. Shown in these two examples. Work related & discrimination of an older person who is being kept in a room away from society because of her age and disability. 

Disability 

There are many forms of disability whether this is physical or mental. Not always could you see that someone may have a disability. I remember being in Spain with my kids about 6 years ago and there was a man hopping along on crutches and as children would they asked really loudly whys that man only got one leg! As an adult and aware of social society we react embarrassed and quickly look for answers to not also discriminate that person by assuming their situation! 

I have taken out a few books from the Library - 

* Employment Law Handbook

* The Equal Opportunities Handbook

* Discrimination Law

I have skimmed through all three books to read up on different type of discrimination and when/how & why it happens. It also gives you an insight into what can be done if you feel discriminated against. 

Page, 61 - Equal Opportunities Handbook - Offenders & Ex-Offenders 

The Rehabilitation of offenders Act 1975

The purpose of this law is to help people who have been convicted in civilian life or as part of a military service back into work. If their sentence was a maximum of no more than two and a half years or less they would be under this law whereby there conviction becomes 'spent' (You do not have to disclose information). With this act in place the person who had committed a previous crime would and does not have to disclose this information when applying for a job. The terms of this law depend on weather the convicted person has stayed on the right side of the law since they where convicted.

Here is a link I found for NACRO with more information - http://www.nacro.org.uk/data/files/nacro-2007031501-285.pdf

On the other hand I have looked at Mental Health & disclosure in the workplace. Here are some quotes from http://www.mind.org.uk/assets/0001/6314/Managing_and_supporting_MH_at_work.pdf

Mental health stigma in employment 

A survey by the anti-stigma campaign ‘Time to 

Change’, led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, 

found 92% of the British public believes that 

admitting to having a mental health problem 

would damage someone’s career. The survey 

found that 56% of the 2,000 respondents would 

not employ someone experiencing depression, 

even if they were the best candidate for the job.27

Here are some images relating to equality & diversity that I have found and would like to take inspiration from as part of this unit. (Unit 3) 

Equality - This man or woman is sat on the street homeless and in very poor conditions. (Idea to move this into the studio would be to copy the pose of the person however show a juxtaposition with the equality of life around them outside of the blanket being something very different? Showing two sides to life from one extreme to the other in one image) 

Image 1, 

Image 2, DNA - are we all the same? (For a studio I would use a model of a man - woman or child with lighting effects and pieces of sponge or Lego type structured to make the DNA up) The image could be direct image of a body but split up in photo shop after with different skin tones? Just ideas at the moment.

I have also found this calendar with imagery of equality & diversity world wide.  A few images to look at and consider. http://www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/staff/equalityAndDiversity/docs/Calendar-2013.pdf