feature | SUPPORTING GLOBAL BUSINESS PLANNING
BEYOND THE
lobal trends are driving more organisations to pursue business potential across the world. This presents opportunity and challenge in equal measure. What if the people best qualified for a secondment to a country in which LGBT people are persecuted, are LGBT? Corporates can play a vital part in bringing pressure to governments and people of countries in which they operate, where LGBT people's rights are not protected. In 69 countries, same-sex relations are still illegal. Six UN member states impose the death penalty for being in a same-sex relationship, and in over half of the world, LGBT people aren’t protected from discrimination by workplace law. As well as progress in some areas of the world, we’ve also seen a row back on some of the hard-fought protections for LGBT people. While the Cayman Islands has banned same-sex marriage, Bermuda became the first country to introduce same-sex marriage only to revoke this a year later. In this difficult global environment, there is an opportunity for employers to step up in the fight for LGBT equality. The power of employers can make real change to promote inclusion in countries which may not have protections enshrined in law for LGBT people.
G RAINBOW
There’s been great progress in lesbian, gay, bi and trans rights in lots of countries across the globe in recent years. Ecuador recently celebrated the introduction of equal marriage for same-sex couples, while Botswana and Angola decriminalised same-sex relations, legislation originating from colonial law, and the World Health Organisation no longer classifies being trans as a mental disorder. But LGBT people still face discrimination in every country in the world.
ARTICLE BY PETE MERCER HEAD OF GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS STONEWALL
For many employers who are truly dedicated to making change for LGBT people, their support extends far beyond the office walls. That could be through their external work, for example banks creating an Mx option on their systems, which recognises non-binary people in a tangible way or law firms doing pro-bono work with local LGBT organisations to advise them on legal human rights cases. It’s important that multinational companies take a thoughtful approach when working towards greater acceptance of LGBT people globally. Every country is unique and will require a tailored approach to advancing equality for the lesbian, gay, bi and trans people living and working there. Learning about the local context and communicating with LGBT movements that already exist in the country and region is key in developing a strategy that is inclusive for those working on the ground. That’s why we publish Global Workplace Briefings, and we were delighted to announce the publication of ten new workplace briefings to our website this September. We now have a total of 37 briefings for countries around the globe, the purpose of which is to give context to the situation for LGBT people in different countries. This might allow a company that is looking to expand globally to properly consider what that may mean for their LGBT employees. Or it may be that businesses who work with us as part of our Global Diversity Champions programmes around the world, can understand more about the rights for LGBT people in different countries.
The ten new briefings published information on legal rights for LGBT people in Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Qatar, Thailand and Uganda. Each briefing outlines the legal, socio-cultural and workplace situation for LGBT people in that country. This includes freedom of expression, association and assembly, family and same-sex relationships, equality and employment, gender identity and immigration. Each briefing also looks at the real stories from each country, and highlights organisations who are doing good work in those countries. When the national context can change so significantly depending on where in the world it is, it can be hard to know how your organisation can make a difference. Accenture is one of our biggest global Diversity Champions, who this year were also named one of our Top Global Employers. Their work in Chile included specifically including anti- discrimination policy and equal benefits for same-sex partners. As well as this, their transitioning at work policy includes guidelines for team leaders, human resources teams and the individual
32 | thehrdirector | DECEMBER 2019
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