A leap into the unknown

Your equalities and politics round up

There was much celebration and relief to see the Harvey Weinstein conviction and see some sort of justice being done for some of the women who spoke out. I can’t help feeling bad for the hundreds of women who shared their pain but didn’t get the chance to see the crimes against them tried in court.

I’ll just leave Cynthia Nixon here:

Sir Michael Marmot’s review into health equity in England: 10 Years On was published this week. The full findings are available here. Much of the coverage focused on stalling life expectancy in the most deprived areas of the country, including the poorest areas of London.

The LGBT Labour’s leadership hustings last week focused rather too much (to my mind) on clichés about partying. As the UK’s LGBT History month draws to a close, it’s important to remember that 24% of homeless young people identify as LGBT and anti-LGBT hate crime is on the increase. Further afield, it was very upsetting to see this news from Poland.

A year ago, a young man, Glendon Spence, was murdered at the Marcus Lipton Centre, a youth centre in Loughborough Junction, Lambeth. The centre was closed for many months and the community is still healing but it was good to read this article about its work. Spaces like the Marcus Lipton Centre are so important to our young people as a place where they can feel safe. There’s a fundraising campaign to fund tech and sports equipment if you can spare a few quid.

This report from a fellow member of the Fabian Women’s Network, Suriyah Bi, into the experiences of Muslim women in the workplace identifies a workplace culture centred on alcohol as a major barrier to many. Workplaces are urged to create a culture that encourages non-alcoholic networking activities. This is as applicable in the charity sector as it is for the legal and media professions that the research focuses on.

Learning points:

Inspired by Simon Blake, CEO of Mental Health First Aid England, I’m trying really hard to remove stigmatising language around mental health from my vocabulary. It’s not at all easy but language matters. Read his blog here.

What am I reading?

I’m just about to start reading Isabel Hardman’s “Why We Get The Wrong Politicians”. Which I’ve been interested to read since my Dudley South (mis)adventures.

Joy-giving things

Oh and I met the wonderful, Divina De Campo ❤️

Happy weekend, all. Make the most of your Leap day.