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Travellers with disability often face discrimination. What should change and how to complain

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-chapman-1345505">Kelsey Chapman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-kendall-210342">Elizabeth Kendall</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lisa-stafford-1505408">Lisa Stafford</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p>Australia’s former disability discrimination commissioner, Graeme Innes, has settled his dispute <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-23/adelaide-airport-graeme-innes-disability-discrimination-dispute/103375068">with Adelaide Airport</a>. His complaint to the Human Rights Commission was lodged after being denied access to a body scanner with his assistance dog in <a href="https://graemeinnes.com/2022/05/17/airport-discrimination-dash-i-am-angry-as-hell-and-im-not-going-to-take-it-anymore/">May 2022</a>.</p> <p>Unfortunately, Innes’ experience will resonate widely with Australia’s <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia/contents/people-with-disability/prevalence-of-disability">4.4 million people with disability</a>.</p> <p>“People with disability know how challenging air travel can be, and that experience needs to be more inclusive,” said Innes, who was disability discrimination commissioner for nine years and is on the board of the <a href="https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/governance/board/board-profiles">National Disability Insurance Agency</a>.</p> <p>Experiences like Innes’ have been widely <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/03/australias-airlines-and-airports-urged-to-improve-treatment-of-travellers-with-disabilities">reported</a> and have happened to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/graeme-innes-fights-to-change-how-disabled-people-are-treated-when-they-fly-20220516-p5alqs.html">prominent Australians with disability</a>. The everyday experience of air travel is likely even more shocking. Change is happening, but it is moving slowly.</p> <h2>Airport and airline ableism</h2> <p>The Human Rights Commission received more than <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/awptor2023-submission-a16-australian-human-rights-commission.pdf">100 disability discrimination complaints against airlines</a> in the six years to 2022, including the period in which COVID restrictions saw air travel severely limited.</p> <p>Issues included:</p> <ul> <li>assistance animal refusals</li> <li>inaccessible facilities</li> <li>inaccessible ticketing arrangements for people with vision impairments</li> <li>taxis and rideshare providers not turning up, long delays or refusing passengers with disability aids and/or assistance animals.</li> </ul> <p>These issues highlight a system underpinned by unchallenged <a href="https://theconversation.com/ableism-and-disablism-how-to-spot-them-and-how-we-can-all-do-better-204541">ableism</a> – discrimination that favours people without disability.</p> <h2>Freedom of movement</h2> <p>An important right under the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-20-personal-mobility.html">United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</a> is freedom of movement. This right seeks to enable all people to be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2023.2203307">included in society in ways they self-determine</a>.</p> <p>Ableism in air travel is a fundamental denial of independence and freedom of movement. Discrimination can be even more blatant and offensive. People have been removed from flights or denied boarding because there are <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/awptor2023-submission-a16-australian-human-rights-commission.pdf">limits on the number of wheelchair users who can access an aircraft</a> or because they require additional support to access facilities.</p> <p>People with disability report the removal of, or damage to, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-31/virgin-airline-wheelchair-damage-broken-compensation/103010472">personal mobility equipment</a>, and lack of suitable equipment. In the most severe cases, people have been <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australians-with-disabilities-suffer-dehumanising-treatment-at-airports-travel-news/b7de6139-258a-4e86-a615-031eb0e89074">injured during travel</a> or left stranded in dangerous circumstances.</p> <h2>Inconsistency can fuel ableism</h2> <p>Inconsistent policies and practices significantly impact travellers with disability. This is made worse by the fact that individual airlines and airports are encouraged by government to develop their own <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/aviation/aviation-access-forum-aaf/dafp">Disability Access Facilitation Plans</a>.</p> <p>So, it is not surprising when news reports highlight instances of assistance dogs being denied travel <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-15/jetstar-assistance-dog-policy-criticised/103221894">domestically</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/travel/jetblue-service-animal-dot-open-form.html">internationally</a>, even when they’ve <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-20/qantas-sued-over-assistance-dog/103223736">previously been approved</a> by other airlines.</p> <p>Lack of consistency, negative attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices in the air travel industry have resulted in <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/singapore-airlines-disability-discrimination-amputee-b2301471.html">reportedly aggressive eviction of passengers</a> with disability from exit rows. Others report being told to “<a href="https://qdn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Voice-of-Queenslanders-with-Disability-report.pdf">catheterise</a>” (to insert a tube through the urethra to the bladder) to avoid needing toilet facilities on an overseas flight. Many people with disability experience situations like Innes’ where they are subjected to alternative, sometimes undignified, processes.</p> <p>Ongoing experiences of ableism not only deny people with disability their rights to travel but can also <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2023.2203307">damage their dignity</a>. Anticipation of discrimination can increase anxiety and stress for travellers with disability or prevent them travelling altogether.</p> <h2>Slow reform</h2> <p>These stories and many others point to the need for urgent reform.</p> <p>Stories shared by more than 60 participants in a special Disability Royal Commission session prompted its chair to <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/news-and-media/media-releases/chair-writes-ceos-airlines-and-airports#:%7E:text=The%20Chair%20of%20the%20Disability,their%20experiences%20with%20air%20travel">write directly to the CEOs</a> of Australian airlines and airports, urging them to work on solutions.<br />The review and modernisation of the <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/transport-accessibility/transport-disability-standards">2002 Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport</a> along with the upcoming release of the Australian government’s <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/aviation/aviation-white-paper">Aviation White Paper</a> could be key mechanisms to address systemic discrimination. But only if key recommendations from disability organisations and advocacy centres are adopted. They include:</p> <ol> <li> <p><a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/agp2023-submission-c170-australian-federation-of-disability-organisations-and-national-inclusive-transport-advocacy-network.pdf">specific standards</a> for air travel co-designed with people with disability and representative organisations. <a href="https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-04/Universal-Design-for-Transport-TAs-discussion-paper-20220421.pdf">Universal design</a> aims to make products and environments usable by all people, without adaptation. It can play an important role in overcoming the systemic barriers in infrastructure and service design to create more seamless and inclusive transport and air travel experiences</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://piac.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PIAC-Submission-to-Aviation-Green-Paper.pdf">reportable and enforceable standards</a> and independent oversight, such as funding the Human Rights Commission to oversee compliance.</p> </li> </ol> <h2>Complaints are just one route</h2> <p>The exclusion of people with disability from seamless airline travel is a violation of their fundamental right to freedom of movement.</p> <p>Decades of travel horror stories in the media, continuing legislative reviews and national enquiries should bring change. Everyone should be able to make journeys with dignity and autonomy. People with disability deserve the same travel privileges as non-disabled Australians.</p> <p>Governments and the aviation industry will need to collaborate to implement comprehensive accessibility measures, ranging from wheelchair-friendly facilities to trained staff capable of providing appropriate assistance. Embracing inclusivity in air travel not only aligns with the principles of equity but also contributes to a society that celebrates diversity.</p> <p>For now, there are a number of ways to raise complaints, including with the individual airline or with the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/complaints/make-complaint">Human Rights Commission</a>. Raising complaints with the Human Rights Commission can be completed by anyone who experiences discrimination. Legal support and advice may also be sought from some state-based legal aid organisations.</p> <p>While complaints are one mechanism for change, more proactive methods for change include the disability royal commission’s recommendation for the design and implementation of a <a href="https://teamdsc.com.au/resources/inside-the-disability-royal-commission-s-final-report">Disability Rights Act</a>, which would see human rights enshrined in legislation and facilitate barrier-free travel.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-chapman-1345505"><em>Kelsey Chapman</em></a><em>, Research Fellow Dignity Project, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-kendall-210342">Elizabeth Kendall</a>, Professor, Director, Griffith Inclusive Futures, Griffith University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lisa-stafford-1505408">Lisa Stafford</a>, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Inclusive Futures Centre, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/travellers-with-disability-often-face-discrimination-what-should-change-and-how-to-complain-221740">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Ableism and disablism – how to spot them and how we can all do better

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-chapman-1345505">Kelsey Chapman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/angel-dixon-1412256">Angel Dixon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-kendall-210342">Elizabeth Kendall</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katie-kelly-1436986">Katie Kelly</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p>When the 2022 Australian of the Year was announced, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-defining-moments-of-dylan-alcotts-time-as-australian-of-the-year/anpkgw2gw">Dylan Alcott</a> wheeled onto the stage. Australian audiences are tuning in to watch TV shows featuring people with disability: <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/7/video/LE2021H003S00?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlMCoiYLY_gIVl1l9Ch2plwHkEAAYASAAEgKiC_D_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">You Can’t Ask That</a>, <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/love-on-the-spectrum">Love on the Spectrum</a> and <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/employable-me-australia">Employable Me</a>.</p> <p>The Disability Pride movement is gaining momentum and people with disability are becoming part of the diversity conversation.</p> <p>On the surface, it would appear we have come a long way in our collective attitudes towards disability. But two of society’s biggest “-isms” still go largely <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-27/harry-styles-concerts-marvel-stadium-accessibility-chloe-hayden/102025124">unnoticed and unaddressed</a>: ableism and disablism.</p> <p>What do these terms mean? And how can we all do better to dismantle them?</p> <h2>Two types of discrimination</h2> <p>Ableism and disablism both refer to types of disability discrimination. The nuance between the two words can cause confusion but are important for acknowledging, detecting, and dismantling the types of barriers people with disability encounter.</p> <p><a href="https://www.attitude.org.au/uploads/120/Perspective%20Shift_Series%201_Study%20Guide_Nov_FINAL.pdf">Ableism</a> is discrimination that favours “able-bodied” people, or people without disability. Ableism prioritises the needs of people without disability. A building designed without a ramp or a lift for people who require them, a lack of captions for a meeting, and stadiums without <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/what-is-a-sensory-space-and-why-are-they-so-important-20230227-p5cnwy.html">low-sensory spaces</a> are all examples of ableism.</p> <p><a href="https://www.sense.org.uk/information-and-advice/ableism-and-disablism/">Disablism</a> is the inherent belief that people with disability are inferior to those without disability. It is discrimination against people with disability, like those shared in the <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2022-03/Issues%20paper%20-%20Rights%20and%20attitudes.pdf">Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability</a>. Disablism can be a more direct, conscious act of discrimination and abuse. Using disability slurs, ignoring someone, or speaking in a patronising way are common examples.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Weekly reminder: If your event doesn't have a virtual option, it's not inclusive or accessible. Thank you for coming to my Twitter talk on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ableism?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ableism</a></p> <p>— chantzy (@chantz_y) <a href="https://twitter.com/chantz_y/status/1653033877105934339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <h2>Ingrained and everywhere</h2> <p>If we are honest, we can acknowledge ableism and disablism are ubiquitous in our language, our homes, children’s stories, media, at work and in our daily social interactions. Indeed, ableism and disablism can be so ingrained in our daily lives that most people are unaware of them.</p> <p>Both forms of discrimination can be subtle and insidious, making them difficult to detect and address. They often operate at systemic levels and are not identified as discrimination.</p> <p>A good example of systemic ableism is the forced segregation of people with disability into <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2022-03/Issues%20paper%20-%20Education%20and%20learning.pdf">“special” schools or “sheltered” workplaces</a> through limited choice and structural support of these options. Although the process of forcing people into these options no longer occurs in such blatantly disrespectful ways, the result is the same.</p> <p>Ableist and disablist attitudes are frequently encountered in daily conversation. Subtle ableism manifests in the use of well-intended “empathetic” comments, like “I can’t imagine losing my eyesight. That would be the worst.” These remarks, even when intended to prompt a connection between two people, reveal deep-seated beliefs and create a greater divide.</p> <p>People with disability, along with other marginalised communities, categorise these types of interactions as “<a href="https://hbr.org/2020/07/when-and-how-to-respond-to-microaggressions">microaggressions</a>”.</p> <p>Disablist attitudes are more overt. Comments like “If you are unable to walk down the ramp then you shouldn’t have gotten tickets to this concert” demonstrate the low expectations and damaging beliefs that impact on people’s opportunities for education, employment and social interaction.</p> <h2>Challenging but worth it</h2> <p>Combating disablism and ableism is a great challenge but one that is worthwhile. A broad spectrum of challenges is at play: confronting and disrupting the status quo, valuing diverse types of knowledge and experience and acknowledging the unconscious biases we all have.</p> <p>At a systemic and societal level, the way we design and deliver systems, polices, virtual and physical environments, products and experiences need to be co-designed in partnership with people with disability – or better yet, through disability-led initiatives.</p> <p>Generating new ideas and better ways of working will contribute to improvements in daily life for all people – just like ramps benefit parents pushing prams and people using mobility aids.</p> <p>The emphasis on <a href="https://anzsog.edu.au/research-insights-and-resources/research/the-promise-of-co-design-for-public-policy/">co-design</a> and engagement with people with disability is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1440-1630.12847">increasingly prevalent</a>. However, it is critical to conduct co-design in ways that are not tokenistic and don’t merely validate current practice. Frameworks like the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1440-1630.12847">Dignity Project Framework</a>, which includes principles of importance for engaging with people with disability, can better support a dignified process of co-design and citizen partnership.</p> <h2>‘Not yet disabled’</h2> <p>At an individual level, we all have a part to play in creating an inclusive future.</p> <p>Disability has been called the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/factsheet-on-persons-with-disabilities.html">world’s largest minority</a> and is a group any person can join at any time in their life.</p> <p>The late disability rights activist <a href="https://judithheumann.com/">Judith Heumann</a> preferred to use the term “not yet disabled” to emphasise that we will all experience impairment and disability at some stage. Thus, we may all confront ableism and disablism at some point. The way to prepare for that time is to actively acknowledge and challenge personal biases, learn about and advocate for accessibility and inclusion in the spaces where you live, work and play and amplify the voices of people with disability at every opportunity.</p> <p>As advocate <a href="https://tiltingthelens.com/about-us/#:%7E:text=As%20a%20passionate%20writer%2C%20podcast,of%20Fashion%2C%20and%20many%20more.">Sinead Burke from Tilting the Lens</a> says in <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/vogue-disability-portfolio-2023">British Vogue’s</a> May issue, "Accessibility and disability inclusion is everyone’s responsibility and opportunity. This is a movement, not a moment. And it involves all of us.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204541/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />"</p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-chapman-1345505">Kelsey Chapman</a>, Research Fellow Dignity Project, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/angel-dixon-1412256">Angel Dixon</a>, Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-kendall-210342">Elizabeth Kendall</a>, Professor, Director, Griffith Inclusive Futures, Griffith University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katie-kelly-1436986">Katie Kelly</a>, Research fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty </em><em>Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ableism-and-disablism-how-to-spot-them-and-how-we-can-all-do-better-204541">original article</a>.</em></p>

Caring

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Male artists dominate galleries. Our research explored if it’s because ‘women don’t paint very well’ – or just discrimination

<p>In the art world, there is a gaping gender imbalance when it comes to male and female artists.</p> <p>In the National Gallery of Australia, <a href="https://nga.gov.au/knowmyname/about/">only 25%</a> of the Australian art collection is work by women. </p> <p>This is far better than the international standard where <a href="https://nmwa.org/support/advocacy/get-facts/">roughly 90%</a> of all artworks exhibited in major collections are by men. The <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/georgia-okeeffe-jimson-weed-slash-white-flower-no-1">most expensive</a> painting by a female artist – Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 – does not even rank among the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_paintings#List_of_highest_prices_paid">100 most expensive paintings</a> ever sold. </p> <p>Why is women’s art valued so much less than art by men?</p> <p>Some economists <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/02/why_do_women_su.html">have suggested</a> the greater burden of child rearing and other domestic duties means women have had fewer opportunities to succeed in the art world.</p> <p>Others have blamed the “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/report-names-laggers-as-women-artists-win-parity-20191029-p534vy.html">quality</a>” of women’s art. In 2013, German painter <a href="https://observer.com/2013/01/georg-baselitz-says-women-dont-paint-very-well/">Georg Baselitz said</a> “Women don’t paint very well. It’s a fact. The market doesn’t lie.”</p> <p>We wanted to know: is work by women generally valued differently to work by men because it is of a lower artistic quality, or is it just discrimination?</p> <h2>Which painting do you like better?</h2> <p>In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268122002669?dgcid=author">our new research</a> we showed average Americans pairs of paintings, painted between 1625 and 1979, side by side. Each of the pairs are similar in style, motif and period, but one work was by a male artist and the other by a female artist.</p> <p>Participants were in two groups. One group saw the artists’ names and the other didn’t. We wanted to see whether more people among those who saw artist names preferred the male painting.</p> <p>If seeing the names – and thereby inferring artist gender – causes more people to prefer male paintings, then there is gender discrimination.</p> <p>Before we tell you the results, think about what you would have expected. And <a href="https://rmit.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e4JBs0wxKeftYF0">take a look</a> at our actual painting pairs and see if you can guess which is the male one (hint: you can’t).</p> <p>We were pleasantly surprised to find our participants did not give a hoot about artist gender. In both groups, 54% preferred the painting from a woman.</p> <p>We repeated this experiment, this time rewarding participants if they could accurately guess the preferences of others – the people in the first experiment. </p> <p>Again, 54% of the people in each group picked the female paintings.</p> <h2>Which painting do you think is worth more?</h2> <p>Next we wanted to find out if people picked male paintings for reasons other than personal taste. Art isn’t just bought and sold on aesthetic value: it is a speculative market, where art is treated as an investment.</p> <p>We conducted two more experiments. In one, participants were rewarded if they picked the more expensive painting. In the other, they were rewarded to pick the one painted by the more famous artist.</p> <p>Gender discrimination emerged in both these experiments. When asked to predict the value of and creator fame of paintings, people suddenly swung towards picking male artists. Preference for female paintings fell by 10% and 9% in these two new experiments.</p> <p>Gender discrimination in art comes not from personal aesthetic preference – Baselitz’ argument that women “don’t paint very well” – but people thinking paintings are more valuable and famous when painted by male artists.</p> <h2>A question of fame</h2> <p>In our fifth experiment, we again rewarded participants who could correctly guess which painting would be preferred by others. This time everyone saw the names of the artists. But only one group was told which of the two artists was objectively more famous – the male artist in 90% of cases.</p> <p>The group with that information was 14% more likely to pick male paintings. People used fame information to predict the painting others liked better.</p> <p>If women artists were discriminated against just because of their gender we would have seen a higher premium put on the male artists even in questions of aesthetics.</p> <p>Here, discrimination only occured when our participants were asked to assign a monetary value to the art works, or when they were given information about the level of fame of the painter. </p> <p>This means our art appreciators discriminated not on gender, but on something closely associated with gender: fame.</p> <p>And because male artists have, historically, been given <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1574067606010234">more opportunities</a> to become artists – and therefore become famous – artwork by men is perceived as having a higher value.</p> <p>Policy is slowly starting to recognise and target institutional factors that perpetuate male dominance because of historical notions of fame, like the National Gallery of Australia’s <a href="https://knowmyname.nga.gov.au/">Know my Name</a> initiative. </p> <p>Discrimination in the arts exists, but it often comes from people’s beliefs about what others care to discriminate about. The task ahead is to change perceptions of people and institutions who do not discriminate – but merely conform to others’ discrimination.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/male-artists-dominate-galleries-our-research-explored-if-its-because-women-dont-paint-very-well-or-just-discrimination-189221" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

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Not without my dog! Man wins anti-discrimination case against pet chihuahua

<p>Queensland pet owner Raymond Matthews has won an anti-discrimination claim against his local pub after his assistance chihuahua, Coo-ee, was denied entry.</p> <p>Matthews' favourite watering hole was The Woombye Pub, a stone's throw from his home on the Sunshine Coast. “I’d go up there for a chicken parmi and a beer, maybe once or twice a week,” he told <a href="https://7news.com.au/sunrise/sunshine-coast-man-wins-8000-discrimination-claim-after-pub-refused-entry-to-his-assistance-chihuahua--c-8079310" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7 News</a>.</p> <p>However, that all came to an end in 2017 when new management started refusing entry to Coo-ee.</p> <p>“(The) dog almost got run over one night, having had to stay outside. I went back inside and got directed out and barred for a month and made out to be the bad guy - that I’d intimidated people.”</p> <p>Three years of consistent refusal-of-entry to The Woombye then caused Matthews to say enough was enough and seek legal recourse.</p> <p>In a case opened against the pub, the tribunal found the venue broke anti-discrimination laws and awarded Matthews $8000 in compensation.</p> <p>Matthews said he tried to explain the significance of Coo-ee to the new owners but they wouldn’t listen.</p> <p>“The more I tried to convince them, the more I sounded like a broken record,” he said. “I’d been to the doctor to get the dog signed off as an assistant.</p> <p>“What she does is she introduces me to myriad people - the amount of hurdles I’ve got over because of the dog, just breaking the barriers down that normally exist with bureaucracy.</p> <p>“I take the dog with me and it just brings people down to a level playing field and you can speak with them, you can get along with them, you’ve got a common denominator and the dog, I feel, is the one that does it.”</p> <p>In a happy ending – certainly for Coo-ee at any rate – Matthews and the pup have now been welcomed into the venue.</p> <p><em>Image: Sunrise</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Jada Pinkett Smith and Black women’s hair: History of disrespect leads to the CROWN Act

<p>The fallout from “the slap” at this year’s Oscars continues. Last week, Will Smith <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-smith-resigns-from-the-academy-slapped-chris-rock-at-oscars/">resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences</a>, after the academy issued a statement <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-smith-chris-rock-slap-oscars-academy-formal-review/">condemning</a> Smith’s actions.</p> <p>There have been innumerable media stories about “the slap,” including <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-smiths-oscar-slap-reveals-fault-lines-as-he-defends-jada-pinkett-smith-against-chris-rock-podcast-180280">an episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>. “The joke,” however, has received less attention. <a href="https://www.capitalfm.com/news/chris-rock-will-smith-jada-pinkett-slap-oscars-gi-jane-joke/">“Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2 can’t wait to see you</a>,” is what Rock said to Jada Pinkett Smith and the Oscar night audience before Smith got up and slapped him.</p> <p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119173/"><em>G.I. Jane</em></a> is a 1997 fictional drama starring Demi Moore about the first woman to undergo training in the United States Navy Seals. Moore’s “feminine” character, Jane O'Neil, is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/review97/fgijane.htm">chosen</a> by a female politician attempting to make a point in her battle against the <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2021/04/22/the-hidden-masculinization-and-militarization-of-the-canadian-citizenship-guide/">inherent sexism in the military</a>. To “keep hanging,” O'Neil “divests herself of any trace of femininity” and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_mJDOB7ZM">shaves her head</a>.</p> <p>Although a shaven head for a woman should not signify anything but a <a href="https://www.etalk.ca/celebrity/celebrities-who-shaved-their-heads-and-looked-absolutely-amazing.html">style choice</a>, Pinkett Smith’s shaven head is also due to alopecia. In 2021, she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a93q1We4E0">shared a video on Instagram</a> explaining <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/symptoms-causes/syc-20372926">the disorder</a>.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CYB7dMppvjk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CYB7dMppvjk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapinkettsmith)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Regardless of the reasons for Pinkett Smith’s hairstyle, Rock’s joke was yet <a href="https://screencrush.com/g-i-jane-oscars-joke/">another jab at a Black woman’s hair</a>. We Black women have learned to love our hair, despite a wider culture that has, historically, not accepted its diversity.</p> <p>In fact, Black women have been fighting the court system for 40 years to get protection from hair discrimination.</p> <p><strong>Alopecia disproportionately affects Black women</strong></p> <p>In my 2019 book, <a href="https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/B/Beauty-in-a-Box2"><em>Beauty in a Box</em></a> I examined the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamadermatol.2017.5163">dermatological research on hair loss</a>. Two U.S. studies, from 2009 and 2017, found that <a href="https://dermnetnz.org/topics/central-centrifugal-cicatricial-alopecia">central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia</a> (CCCA) is often underdiagnosed; some estimates report that 17 per cent of Black women have this condition.</p> <p>Some of the reasons why Black women are more adversely affected by CCCA are due to tight braiding hairstyles, long-term use of hair weaves, lace-front wigs and chemical relaxers.</p> <p>While Rock might not have known of Pinkett Smith’s alopecia, in his 2009 documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213585/"><em>Good Hair</em></a> he spoke to Black women about their hair, especially about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCEX34-1o6M">chemical relaxers</a>.</p> <p><em>Good Hair</em> was a successful film for Rock, but that does not mean he grew from the project.</p> <p><strong>Black hair discrimination and the CROWN Act</strong></p> <p><em>Glamour</em>’s <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/the-crown-act-september-2020-cover-story">September 2020 cover story</a> was dedicated to six Black women who endured discrimination at work because of their hair. The feature explained how curly, “kinky” or big hair carries meaning for Black women.</p> <p>For example, a <a href="https://www.ellecanada.com/beauty/hair/how-to-style-a-messy-topknot-so-it-looks-chic-not-just-out-of-bed">messy topknot is considered chic</a> on a white woman, while a Black woman with natural hair such as large Afro or locs would be considered unkempt and has <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2513893/Florida-girl-threatened-expulsion-afro-hair.html">led to workplace reprimand</a>.</p> <p>On March 18, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087661765/house-votes-crown-act-discrimination-hair-style">CROWN Act</a>, banning hair discrimination at private places of work, federal programs and public accommodations. CROWN stands for <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2116">Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5edc69fd622c36173f56651f/t/5edeaa2fe5ddef345e087361/1591650865168/Dove_research_brochure2020_FINAL3.pdf">A 2019 Dove study</a> found that Black women were 80 per cent more likely to feel pressure to change their hairstyles to fit in at the office. Black women were also 83 per cent more likely to report being judged on her looks than other women.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3VPvBmkIA-g?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">‘Subjects of Desire’ by Jennifer Holeness delves into issues of race, power and beauty.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>The CROWN Act is not yet an official law. Despite <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/598757-house-passes-crown-act-banning-race-based-hair-discrimination/">President Joe Biden expressing strong support for the bill</a>, there may not be enough votes to pass it.</p> <p><strong>Rogers vs. American Airlines</strong></p> <p>In 1981, American Airlines fired ticket agent Renee Rogers for wearing cornrows. She <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/scholar_case?case=6092364812619612919&amp;q=Rogers+v.+American+Airlines&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=2006&amp;as_vis=1">filed a discrimination suit</a> challenging the airline’s policy prohibiting employees from wearing an all-braided hairstyle, claiming that such a policy violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and discriminated against her as a woman, and also as a Black person.</p> <p>Legal scholar <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1372731">Paulette Cladwell</a> explained how and why the U.S. Federal District Court of New York rejected Rogers’s claim that the style evoked her African heritage.</p> <p>The court said her hairstyle was a result of having seen the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078721/">1979 film <em>10</em></a>, starring <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au0Pp_9oQbo">Bo Derek who makes an appearance wearing long braids</a> with beads at the ends. It became known as the “<a href="https://law.fiu.edu/2019/10/11/the-unnatural-treatment-of-natural-hair-courts-failure-to-recognize-hairstyle-discrimination-as-race-discrimination-the-need-for-state-legislature-action/">Bo Derek defence</a>.” <em>Rogers vs. American Airlines</em> was a landmark case because it set a precedent that sanctioned the firing of Black women on the basis of their hair.</p> <p>In 2016, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a lawsuit filed by the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/4/18/17242788/chastity-jones-dreadlock-job-discrimination">Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Catastrophe Management Solutions (CMS) for firing Chastity Jones, a Black woman</a>, because she wore her hair in locs. The lawsuit shared much in common with <em>Rogers vs. American Airlines</em>. Lawyers for Jones also argued that her termination was in violation of the Civil Rights Act.</p> <p>The court of appeals ruled that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/u-s-court-rules-dreadlock-ban-during-hiring-process-legal-n652211">CMS’s “race-neutral grooming policy” was not discriminatory</a> because while hairstyles are “culturally associated with race” they are “not immutable physical characteristics.” The court ruled that a hairstyle might be closely associated with one’s culture but because it is changeable, it is not protectable under the law and an employer is within its rights to use it as a reason to deny employment.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown smiles." /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson smiles in Washington on March 31, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution">(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)</span></figcaption></figure> <p>Hair has also come up in discussions on <a href="https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a39520244/judge-ketanji-brown-jacksons-locs/">Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings</a> because the legal profession has often discouraged natural hairdos. In 2007, an editor from <em>Glamour</em> in a “do’s and don'ts” fashion event at a New York law firm <a href="https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/almID/1188161099761/?slreturn=20220304144452">called locs “truly dreadful.”</a></p> <p><strong>Why Black hair jokes aren’t funny</strong></p> <p>When Black women are in legal and cultural battles for the right to wear their hair as they choose, jokes about our hair just aren’t funny. The <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/02/06/685506578/is-beauty-in-the-eyes-of-the-colonizer">straight hair standard of beauty has been called toxic</a> not only to Black women but women in general for the ways it valorizes white, western beauty ideals.</p> <p>One may argue that public figures should be open to criticism. For example, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson often shows up with his hair in disarray <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/how-boris-johnsons-hair-defined-britain/">which gets poked fun at by media</a>. The difference is that there is no threat to his livelihood.</p> <p>Until Black women can wear their hair how they want without risk of ridicule, reprimand or termination, a joke targeting Black hair is no laughing matter.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180631/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cheryl-thompson-662166">Cheryl Thompson</a>, Assistant Professor, Performance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/ryerson-university-1607">Ryerson University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/jada-pinkett-smith-and-black-womens-hair-history-of-disrespect-leads-to-the-crown-act-180631">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

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“Totally shocked” woman refused home loan due to maternity leave plans

<p dir="ltr">A New Zealand woman<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/new-lending-rules-mum-shocked-by-90-day-maternity-leave-mortgage-condition/R3N4QF37MLMV44LUOPGV2VC6JA/" target="_blank">has been told</a><span> </span>by ANZ that she would only be considered for a mortgage if she returned to work within 90 days of giving birth.</p> <p dir="ltr">The woman is one of several people who spoke to the<span> </span><em>Otago Daily Times</em><span> </span>following the introduction of changes to New Zealand’s Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA).</p> <p dir="ltr">Changes to the act were intended to protect borrowers from loan sharks, but have prompted banks to vet mortgage applicants’ spending habits and personal finances more closely instead.</p> <p dir="ltr">The woman, who the publication agreed not to name, said she felt “totally shocked and completely discriminated against” by ANZ, after she was informed through her mortgage broker that the bank had changed its policy on maternity leave for borrowers.</p> <p dir="ltr">An ANZ spokeswoman acknowledged that the bank was enforcing stricter rules for customers taking more than 90 days of maternity leave as a result of changes to the CCCFA.</p> <p dir="ltr">She said there had been no change to the bank’s policy.</p> <p dir="ltr">However the woman, who was in the later stages of pregnancy when she and her partner attempted to refinance their home, found that her plans for maternity leave affected their chances of securing their loan.</p> <p dir="ltr">After a family member who had helped the couple finance their home to start with passed away, the couple were looking to get a mortgage through a bank with the help of a mortgage broker.</p> <p dir="ltr">The woman planned to take 12 months off of work from early December, including nine months of paid leave - three by her employer and six by the government’s paid parental leave scheme.</p> <p dir="ltr">She said she wanted to take a full year of leave after taking just seven months off following the birth of her last child, giving her more time to spend with the newborn.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s a really special time and I wanted to be there for it,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">When they applied for a mortgage through ANZ, they received a series of questions about their financial situation, as well as questions about her plans to return to work.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though she expected questions about their finances, “which I totally understood”, the woman said asking about her plans after her maternity leave was “deeply personal”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The decisions I choose to make after that time should be mine and not dependent on the bank,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">On January 7, the mortgage broker forwarded an email from ANZ saying the bank had changed its maternity leave policy - now refusing to give mortgages to customers who took more than three months off work.</p> <p dir="ltr">The woman said she believed the couple could still afford the mortgage whether she was working or not.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I mean, we knew we could afford it - and if we didn’t, we wouldn’t have applied,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though she was confident she would return to work, she didn’t believe the bank had the right to tell new mothers when they go back.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s completely discriminatory and just not needed,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The couple, who now have a three-week-old baby, are now looking to other banks for a loan.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Real Estate

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Robert De Niro sued for harassment and gender discrimination

<p>Robert De Niro has been accused of gender discrimination and harassment in a $12 million lawsuit filed by former employee Graham Chase Robinson.</p> <p>In a court document obtained by <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6446423-Robinson.html">the <em>Hollywood Reporter</em></a>, Robinson alleges that De Niro and his film production company Canal Productions subjected her to a “hostile work environment” and “years of gender discrimination and harassment”, including “gratuitous unwanted physical contact”, “abusive and sexist comments”, and underpayments “because she was not a male breadwinner”.</p> <p>According to Robinson, whose most recent position at the company was vice-president of production and finance, De Niro called her a “bitch” and a “spoiled brat”, asked her to “scratch his back” and “put away his boxers”, and made her work 20 to 30 hours of overtime per week without any additional pay.</p> <p>De Niro also allegedly implied Robinson deserved a lower salary than a male staff “whose job required no greater skill, effort or responsibility” because she was “a woman without children”.</p> <p>“De Niro made demands of Ms Robinson that he never imposed on males,” said Robinson’s lawyer Alexandra Harwin.</p> <p>“De Niro’s treatment of Ms Robinson was inappropriate, demeaning, abusive, and intolerable, and he needs to be held accountable.”</p> <p>The complaint comes after De Niro’s company filed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/19/robert-de-niro-sues-ex-employee-embezzlement-netflix-binge">a $6 million suit</a> against Robinson in August, accusing her of embezzling money and binge-watching television shows during office hours.</p> <p>Robinson argued that De Niro’s decision to sue her was “filled with baseless, bad faith and frivolous allegations” designed to “destroy her reputation” and prevent her from pursuing her claims.</p> <p>“Now, when her name is Googled, these allegations pop up on the screen,” the file read. “The results have been devastating to Ms Robinson. Her reputation and her career have been destroyed.”</p> <p>In response, De Niro’s lawyer Tom Harvey said Robinson’s claims are “beyond absurd”.</p>

Legal

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The nasty history of airport discrimination

<p><em><strong>Rachel Bright is a lecturer in Modern History at Keele University, England.</strong></em></p> <p>This summer, if you go abroad, you will pass through border checkpoints. Not everyone can be checked thoroughly or the system stops, so border guards judge you based on how you look or sound, and they decide how laws are enforced. While widely illegal, racial profiling <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1642&amp;context=jalc" target="_blank">has increased</a></strong></span> at airports since 9/11, justified by fears of terrorism. Understanding the history of how this system developed shows that it was always designed to discriminate.</p> <p>The global border checking system has roots in early 20th-century South Africa. To circumvent Britain’s ban on race-based legislation, South African laws were carefully designed to appear fair while making it possible to continue to restrict entry for Indians and poor whites, especially Jews.</p> <p>The most famous means of discrimination was <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_gmpDgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT137&amp;lpg=PT137&amp;dq=natal+language+test&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WfhQ9Je-Rv&amp;sig=vyQ4KcujRBfZU1astSJVDp8hVsA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiJ6_O9rc_VAhWBb1AKHVeWAWMQ6AEIRDAD#v=onepage&amp;q=natal%20language%20test&amp;f=false" target="_blank">the language test</a></strong></span>, introduced in both the US and South Africa in the 1890s. This required potential migrants to take a writing test. Border guards decided what the test was and who passed. Officials regularly rigged the system, stopping Jews or Indians who misspelled single words, but letting in European men if they seemed the “right” sort.</p> <p>A law passed in South Africa in 1913 was even more vague, prohibiting people on “economic grounds” or “habits of life”. These terms were deliberately undefined, giving the government and its border officials almost total power, with very little room for legal appeal. This was part of an increasing trend to make migration a route only open to those with significant financial resources, and to stop those deemed of a different “culture” from entering their country, two criteria still used today.</p> <p>These South African laws spread to the other settler colonies, then Britain, India and other corners of empire. A system gradually evolved that encouraged border officials to practice discrimination, while allowing governments to claim that objective legal systems were in place.</p> <p><strong>A master of the art</strong></p> <p>Looking at the career of <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=digbDQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA163&amp;lpg=PA163&amp;dq=clarence+wilfred+cousins&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=EVrHMpb__I&amp;sig=ICSSEgfPc6qqsfC2bL66gi3aV2s&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj2n8Kem8_VAhURKFAKHcCcDdMQ6AEIMTAC#v=onepage&amp;q=clarence%20wilfred%20cousins&amp;f=false" target="_blank">Clarence Wilfred Cousins</a></strong></span> (1872-1954), the chief immigration officer in the Cape Colony, then South Africa, at the beginning of the 20th century, shows how this system worked in practice.</p> <p>He was himself an immigrant: born in Madagascar in 1872 to a missionary father, Oxford-educated, he went to Cape Town in 1896 to work as a civil servant. Cousins’ migration job was to stop the “wrong sort” from entering South Africa. And this was a system that was never meant to be fair. He explained in one official report:</p> <p><em>It is not possible to deal with the Asiatic as with the European; the whole nature of the man is oriental, his habits are different from those of the European, and legislation that would apply easily to the European is not applicable to the Asiatic… they are both dealt with under the same law, and so a great deal of discrimination is necessary in administering the law.</em></p> <p>This discrimination is evident in the official records, and something he celebrated in his diaries. A Jewish man with paperwork and money was deported for being “dressed in an unclean manner”; healthy people were rejected for appearing sickly; or refused entry because “one eye of one child was defective”, for appearing pale, or having a split lip. He would spend days and nights and often his own money to catch out Jews and Indians, who were for him the “enemy” – an enemy always depicted as “wily” in his private diaries and letters.</p> <p><strong>Modern airports</strong></p> <p>This system cannot be relegated to a more racist past. The technique developed in South Africa was adapted by the other settler colonies, such as Australia. Britain, in turn, used an <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/a-z/immigration-restriction-act.aspx" target="_blank">Australian act</a></strong></span> as the basis for its <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/aliens-act" target="_blank">first migration law in 1905</a></strong></span>. This was then adapted in <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.theindianlawyer.in/statutesnbareacts/acts/p10.html" target="_blank">India</a></strong></span> for its first migration act, and so on. When airport travel became commonplace after World War II, racial profiling remained a feature of airport security.</p> <p>While anti-discrimination laws are now common, in practice, racial profiling has become increasingly socially acceptable. Police and border officials continue to racially profile people <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/2uxbfnJ" target="_blank">even when it’s illegal</a></strong></span>. The fact that so many of the laws regulating the movement of people are worded vaguely and give significant discretionary powers to border guards leaves little room for appeal against unfair treatment.</p> <p>Casual holidaymakers are not exempt from this process. Growing fears about “illegal” movement have blurred the lines between potential migrants and casual travellers. Passengers can be turned away if border officials think they might plan to stay, rather than just holiday, based entirely on the opinion of border officials.</p> <p>While current border officials are less overtly racist, they are products of their society. As in the early 20th century, xenophobia is part of daily discourse. Even the nicest border guards are not immune. They are paid little, and have to screen ever increasing numbers of people within a limited period of time. Falling back on stereotyping to single out “undesirables” is a natural process.</p> <p>Understanding this is not just about identifying racism. As a white woman, I rarely have problems travelling. A few years ago, I was pulled aside by an airport official for a random security check, but their boss walked by and reprimanded them: “She’s not going to carry a bomb, is she? Get someone else.” I was sent on my way without a check. Ironically, of course, this reliance on appearance makes our air spaces even <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126944-500-racial-profiling-no-better-than-random-screening/" target="_blank">less secure</a></strong></span>.</p> <p>So be careful when you travel this summer. The system is designed to keep you out unless you “look” right; it is not designed to keep you safe.</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p> <p><em>Written by Rachel Bright. Republished with permission of <a href="http://theconversation.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Conversation</span></strong></a>.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Have you arranged your travel insurance yet? Save money with Over60 Travel Insurance. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://elevate.agatravelinsurance.com.au/oversixty?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=content&amp;utm_content=link1&amp;utm_campaign=travel-insurance" target="_blank">To arrange a quote, click here.</a></span> Or for more information, call 1800 622 966.</strong></em></p>

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Workplace age discrimination is starting younger

<p>An Australian inquiry has heard that workplace age discrimination is starting younger than ever.</p> <p>An inquiry into discrimination by the Australian Human Rights Commission has found complaints of age discrimination have been received by people who are in their 40s.</p> <p>Official complaints to federal and state advocates about age discrimination are starting well before retirement age, with cases including an employee in the 45-54 age bracket who was told that they were too old to use the stairs at work and fired for safety reasons.</p> <p>Other cases include workers being made redundant because they need “fresher faces”.</p> <p>Australian Age and Disability Commissioner Susan Ryan is touring Australia as part of the inquiry and stated, “Although the bulk of discrimination happens in an older age bracket with those who are 50 and over, there are widely held prejudices toward older workers and that's why it takes place.”</p>

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