In a scathing internal assessment, employees of Amnesty International UK (AIUK) have accused senior staff of promoting a culture of white privilege and frequent incidents of overt racism including senior staff using the N-word and micro-aggressive behaviour such as the touching of black colleagues’ hair, a report by The Guardian said.
With the director of AIUK citing that “the uncomfortable fact that we have not been good enough”, senior office bearers of both arms of the UK-based human rights organisation apologised and pledged to make changes,.
The review pointed out the following points,
• Senior staff using the N-word and P-word, with colleagues labelled over-sensitive if they complained.
• Systemic bias including the capability of black staff being questioned consistently and without justification, and minority ethnic staff feeling disempowered and sidelined on projects.
• A lack of awareness or sensitivity to religious practices resulting in problematic comments and behaviour.
• Aggressive and dismissive behaviour, particularly over email and often directed towards staff in offices in the global south.
The report also says minority staff were consistently overlooked for promotions with pay reviews consistently favouring high-earning white senior leaders.
Kate Allen, the director of AIUK said, “We recognise that we have not done enough to ensure that our organisation is a truly inclusive one where everyone receives the same level of respect and opportunity, is valued equally and is able to be heard. We are reckoning with the uncomfortable fact that we have not been good enough and from this, we understand that we must change to become better.”
One of the whistleblowers, Katherine Odukoya, said: “We joined Amnesty hoping to campaign against human rights abuses but were instead let down through realising that the organisation actually helped perpetuate them.”https://t.co/9nYklW4cNV
— Ruchir Sharma (@ruchirsharma_1) April 20, 2021
Minorities who join AIUK with hopes of campaigning for human rights and equality often get disillusioned when they realise that the organisation they hope will treat them with dignity and respect perpetuate discrimination upon them.
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