Sexuality: Is There a Hierarchy of Discrimination?
| Date | 01 June 1996 |
| Published date | 01 June 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300202 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
64
Sexuality:
Is
There
a
Hierarchy
of
Discrimination?
Peter
Dunn,
Senior
Probation
Officer
and
Hostel
Manager
in
Berkshire,
considers
inconsistencies
in
Probation
Services’
commitment
to
equal
opportunities,
with
obvious
discriminatory
effect
for
lesbian
and
gay
staff
and
service
users,
and
suggests
a
strategy
for
enhancing
equal
opportunities.
ome
organisations
that
are
under
stress
ditch
hard-earned
reforms
as
the
struggle
simply
to
survive
becomes
paramount.
There
is
evidence
that
this
process
is
under
way
in
the
Probation
Service:
faced
with
increasing
work
pressures,
shrinking
resources,
and
a
government
which
has
demonstrated
its
hostility
to
the
value
base
which
accounts
for the
Service’s
existence,
equal
opportunities
principles
become
increasingly
vulnerable.
With 70
to
80
per
cent
of
the
Probation
Service
budget
spent
on
staff,
and
with
further
expenditure
cuts
likely
during
the
next
three
years,
engaging
staff
in
a
way
which
helps
us
all
achieve
our
potential
becomes
increasingly
important.
This
article
considers
whether
Probation
Services,
in
their
reluctance
to
address
heterosexism,
are
inconsistent
in
their
commitment
to
equal
opportunities.
If
so,
does
this
prevent
the
achievement
of
equal
opportunities
for
all
groups
who
are
discriminated
against,
and
how
are
lesbian
and gay
staff
and
service
users
affected?
It
concludes
with
some
proposals
for
change
in
the
context
of
training
and
its
relationship
with
current
equal
opportunities
policy.
NViiere the LaN%, Sets Out
to 01)1)ress
The
inclusion
of
lesbians
and
gay
men
in
equal
opportunities
statements
is
not
universal,
despite
recommendations
from
organisations
such
as
the
Central
Council
for
Education
and
Training
in
Social
Work
(CCETSW),
British
Association
of
Social
Workers,
and
NAPO
that
it
should
be.
Omission
increases
the
vulnerability
of
lesbian
and gay
staff
and
service
users
to
unfair
treatment,
and
discrimination
from
elsewhere
in
the
criminal
justice
system
is
colluded
with.
Why
is
sexuality
left
out
and
does
it
matter?
Perhaps
it
is
left
out
because
lesbians
and
gay
men
do not have
redress
in
law
from
the
effects
of
discrimination.
On
the
contrary,
lesbians
and gay
men
in
particular
are
actively
and
systematically
legislated
against,
for
example
the
unequal
age
of
consent
at
18
for
gay
men,
and
the
very
restrictive
definition
of
what
constitutes
sexual
activity
in
private.
There
is
no
legislation
to
protect
lesbians
and
gay
men
from
intimidation
and
harassment.
In
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