EQUALITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION REPORT
Jou Yin commented that she would like to see ‘ a more consistent alignment , not just at the individual level , but at the professional level .. with occupational therapy as profession being able to move forward with a concerted force .’
Hannah had just four small , but powerful , words : ‘ Language , pronouns visibility and representation ’. For Wendy , it was that ‘ people believe , they belong , and they know and feel in every part of their body that they matter .’
Dave asked people to imagine how effective it would be if the profession , which is predominantly white , and all its members would advocate for diversity and would work more genuinely , more thoroughly and more loudly on behalf of all those who are disproportionately affected by systemic inequalities . ‘ Imagine what that that would look like ,’ he said .
But the final word went to Clenton , who said it would be about being able to measure the sense of belonging , and the connections and the community we have . But he also urged a degree of caution : ‘ We need to be very careful about representation ,’ he said .
‘ As a protected characteristic we cannot represent everyone . We need to look at the language we use . All we can do is amplify ; but it ’ s [ about ] creating the space for that to happen .’
You can also watch the full inclusion panel on the RCOT website now . Visit : https :// bit . ly / 37ohkYO
Ketan Davé has recently joined RCOT as equality , diversity and inclusion manager . With over 20 years ’ experience and a wealth of expertise in equality , inclusion , and diversity matters , we look forward to talking with him in a forthcoming issue about his career , why he joined the Royal College , and what he sees as the immediate priorities for the organisation in its EDI agenda going forward .
In an interactive RCOT annual conference workshop to develop the understanding of allyship , and how to become actively anti-racist , anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive , Musharratt Ahmed-Landeryou , told occupational therapists that allyship ‘ is not an end point , but an endless struggle to foster change ’. Referencing the author and anti-racist educator Anne Bishop , Musharratt , co-founder of the BAMEOTUK network and senior lecturer at London South Bank University , discussed the ‘ six steps to allyship ’, and said allyship ‘ is about enabling people to enable themselves to equalise the space they find themselves in and embedding justice ’.
Ultimately , ‘ allyship is a show of solidarity through your action , verbal or behavioural disruption ,’ she said .
She added : ‘ We should be talking about equity – because it ’ s not just about everyone getting the same , it ’ s about everyone getting what they need to thrive . She said that there is a phrase when it comes to service improvement – you cannot stop waste coming into the system , you have to constantly monitor review and be responsive to change to reduce it ’.
‘ I think the same can be said here ; in that you cannot turn off becoming an ally , because you cannot stop completely discrimination , racism , prejudice . What you can do it deal with it as it arrives and disrupt the structures that emboldened it for the long-term benefit . That is allyship .
Allyship – an endless struggle to foster change
A report from Musharratt Ahmed-Landeryou ’ s annual conference session , where she examined the meaning of allyship and called for occupational therapists to unite in collective collaboration to be actively anti of all oppression
‘ And language is important . You uplift and nurture or oppress and harm with words , terms , phrases and sentences . So we have to be respectful how we apply them from our positions of privilege and power .’
Musharratt defined racism as any programme or practice of discrimination , segregation , persecution or mistreatment of populations based on membership of an ethnic group . She said discrimination is a practice of treating similarly situated people differently because of their protected characteristic ( Delgardo and Stefanchic 2017 ).
While oppression , she explained , is malicious treatment and abuse of power to discriminate or be unjust and target a specific group of people or a person ; it can be perpetrated by government , or group culture or a person , overtly or covertly ( Bishop 2018 ).
With the three terms clearly laid out , she said ‘ allyship is anti all of this – anti-racist , anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive – “ anti ” here meaning active in opposition and disrupting .’
She went on to tell workshop participants that ‘ to be an ally you have to understand your own power and privilege , to know how to capitalise from it for benefit beyond yourself ’. She added : ‘ To become an ally also is to keep a check on yourself , in that you are not oppressing , or gatekeeping opportunities or knowledge to create inequality ’.
She concluded : ‘ We are stronger together as a collaborating collective action group – that is allyship ...
‘ Allyship is mine , yours and a societal responsibility for social justice and equity . Those are words we profess to in the profession . We do it to debunk and challenge racism and discrimination in all forms and embed humanity and human dignity as non-negotiable .
‘ We have to unite in collective collaboration to be actively anti of all oppression , standing in solidarity with all in allyship .’
OTnews August 2021 19