United KIngdom News

 

Transforming Domestic Abuse Services Conference
Date for your Diary: Saturday 22nd September

LGBT Domestic Abuse Forum is pleased to announce Transforming Domestic Abuse Conference taking place in London on the 22nd September 2012. The conference is being hosted in partnership with Gendered Intelligence, Gender Matters and Galop and welcomes all who have an interest in improving services to trans survivors of domestic abuse to come along.

The aim of the conference is to improve domestic abuse service provision for trans communities, by bringing together sector organisations, activists and trans people to identify gaps in service provision, best practice and how to address them.

The event will take place in London but the overarching themes will be transferable to organisations working throughout the UK. 

Learning from the event will be circulated to all those who participated for further consultation with the intention of publishing findings and recommendations in 2013.

Further updates and the application process will be circulated next month.   If you would like to be involved in organising the conference, please do email me at

maria@stonewallhousing.org

 

 

The outcome of the Equalities Red Tape Challenge and Reform of the Equality and Human Rights Commission

Baroness Verma: My right honourable Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Theresa May) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:
I am today announcing the outcome of the Red Tape Challenge spotlight on Equalities, alongside the Government response to the consultation on the reform of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Equalities Red Tape Challenge package balances the need to provide important legal protection from discrimination with identifying which measures in the Equality Act 2010 are placing unnecessary or disproportionate burdens on business. The package aims to reduce these burdens through delaying or repealing the law.

We have today published consultation documents on the removal of provisions relating to:

• employer liability for the harassment of an employee by a third party e.g. a customer;
• the power of Tribunals to make wider recommendations in a successful discrimination case; and the statutory mechanism by which individuals can obtain information where they think an employer, or service provider, has acted unlawfully towards them.

We will:

• proceed with the repeal of the socio-economic duty;
• delay commencement of the dual discrimination provisions in the Equality Act 2010;
• delay commencement of reasonable adjustments to common parts provisions.

We have also looked again at the public sector Equality Duty (PSED). This Government has a strong commitment to equality of opportunity. But we also have a strong desire to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy where it exists and consider alternatives to legislation. We committed last year to assess the effectiveness of the PSED specific duties. We have decided to bring forward that review and extend it to include both the general and specific duties to establish whether the Duty is operating as intended.

A proportionate approach to legislation goes hand in hand with our plans for the EHRC.

We want the EHRC to become a valued and respected national institution. To do so, we believe it must focus on the areas where it can add value – as an independent equality body and 'A - rated' National Human Rights Institution. And, it must be able to show that it is using taxpayers' money wisely.
Taking account of the views expressed in our consultation: Building a fairer Britain: Reform of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, we have decided to scrap vague, unnecessary and obsolete provisions from the Equality Act 2006 to focus the EHRC on its core functions.

In parallel, we are implementing a strong package of non-legislative measures, including:

• recruiting a new Chairman, to succeed Trevor Phillips who is standing down, and a new smaller Board;
• conducting a comprehensive review of the EHRC's budget;
• implementing tighter performance and financial controls set out in a new Framework Document.

We consider that this package has the potential to deliver the change in the EHRC's performance that we all want to see, but we will review the EHRC's progress at its next triennial review in Autumn 2013.

Copies of the consultation documents on removal of specific provisions in the Equality Act 2010, and the Government response to the EHRC consultation will be placed in the House Library and can also be found on the Home Office website at the following link www.homeoffice.gov.uk/equalities

 

Trans Mental Health and Well-being Survey

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/transmentalhealth

 

There has been very little research about trans people, or people with trans histories, and their well-being. What there is suggests that trans people have worse mental health and life satisfaction than many others, but it is not clear why. Trans well-being and mental health are very complicated, because trans people have to go through a lot of things that other people don’t experience, and these issues can all affect well-being and mental health.

This survey was designed by researchers who mostly have trans identities, and is an attempt to uncover the issues that are most important and relevant for trans people, or those with trans histories. We feel that it is vital that we understand the things that can affect us, in order to make recommendations for changing things that cause harm, and improving things that help. The survey has NOT come from medics or people from Gender Identity Clinics.

This survey is a partnership between:

Scottish Transgender Alliance www.scottishtrans.org;

Trans Resource and Empowerment Centre www.transcentre.org.uk;

TransBareAll www.transbareall.co.uk;

and Sheffield Hallam University www.shu.ac.uk

 

Who can take part?

Anyone over the age of 18 and who feels that their gender identity or expression is different to what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.

For more information about who can take part, or for answers to commonly asked questions, please go to the survey URL above.

Thank you for your interest in this survey. The survey closing date is July 1st 2012.

James Morton, Jay McNeil, Louis Bailey, Sonja Ellis

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact: James Morton: sta@equalitynetwork.org

Scottish Transgender Alliance Coordinator, Equality Network, 30 Bernard Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6PR.

Office: 0131 467 6039

 

 

Teachers Voice their support for LGBT History Month

Teachers voted unanimously to voice their support for Schools OUT and LGBT History Month at the National Union of Teachers (NUT) Conference over the Easter weekend.

Read the rest of the story here at the LGBT History Month website.

 

 

Government consultation on equal civil marriage

 

 

UK Health And Social Care Staff Survey: Working with Trans People

The Scottish Transgender Alliance, in partnership with TransBareAll, is proud to launch a new national survey of health and social care staff. The survey is the first of its kind, aiming to capture the difficulties that professionals may be facing when working with transgender individuals, or any needs that they may have in supporting this group. We would welcome participation from all staff groups in health and social care (whether working directly with clients or not), in order to gain a broad understanding of what works, and what doesn't. The results will be used to inform a series of professional guides to working with trans people, which will in turn benefit the trans community. It is vital that as many people as possible complete the survey to ensure that everyone's views are considered, whether or not you have worked with trans people before. With endorsement from UNISON and the Royal College of Nursing, this is an excellent opportunity to shape the development of best practice in an area where staff may not have had an opportunity to do so before. We look forward to disseminating the results and good-practice guides over coming months.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ hscstaffsurvey

 

 

I don’t want any more people to die of this

Worcester News Exclusive By James Connell

 

A GIRL trapped in a boy’s body says she sometimes feels suicidal but is determined to give hope to others like her.

Livvy James, aged 10, of Worcester, has gender dysphoria which means she was born a boy but feels she has always been a girl.

To read the rest of this article on the Worcesternews website click here

To sign the petition click here.

 

 

Domestic violence charity launch new trans-friendly service

UK charity Broken Rainbow will launch a new helpline for trans people as part of LGBT History Month celebrations.

by Peter Lloyd
news.PinkPaper.com

27 January 2012



UK charity Broken Rainbow will launch a new helpline for trans people as part of LGBT History Month celebrations.

Marked with an event at Bar Wotever, the 14 February launch will take place at the RVT in London's Vauxhall from 6pm until midnight. It will feature celebrities, DJs, performers and trans organisations who are supporting it.

Broken Rainbow is the only UK-wide charity working with lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and trans people who suffer domestic violence.

With the service, trans people will be able to call and speak to a trans helpline worker on Tuesdays 1-5pm and all helpline staff are having trans awareness training.

The new service is also being widely advertised to LGBT people across the UK.

Jackie Fernandez, Broken Rainbow's chief executive told DIVA: "We are excited to launch a new dedicated service for trans people across the UK. Broken Rainbow UK encourages any trans person experiencing violence from their partner, ex or family to take that brave step forward and contact us in confidence."

Max Zachs, one of the stars of Channel 4's My Transsexual Summer, stated: "I know that as queer people we are already working hard to reclaim the streets.

"If you need to, now is the time to call and make your home safe as well"

Denise Anderson, from Press for Change, a key lobbying and legal support organisation for trans people in the UK asserted: "Between one third and three quarters of transgender people have experienced domestic violence. Broken Rainbow UK's trans helpline is great - trans people can now get support when they most need it."

If you are experiencing violence or are worried that someone you care about is then call Broken Rainbow on 0300 999 5428, email help@brokenrainbow.org.uk and check out our web site www.brokenrainbow.org.uk.

http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=6815