Breaking the Silence: Education and Awareness Raising

Dolores Kandelin Mogard

Akademikerförbundet SSR /

Union of Professionals

All Clear(Fritt Fram)

An Equal project about creating open and

inclusive workplaces

VisionTo create a working environment where every

single individual is respected and have equal

rights and opportunities regardless of their

sexual orientation

Brief Facts• An Equal collaboration about sexual orientation at work• Project Period: January 2002 – September 2007• Two Equal projects: Normgiving Diversity and Homosexuals and Bisexuals in the Care System The training tool All Clear has been produced by the both projects together• From 2005 the organisations from the two Equal projects cooperate in All

Clear• All Clear is coordinated and supported by many different kinds of

organizations, such as employers associations, trade unions, LGBT organizations, a municipality and a state government: The Ombudsman against Discrimination on grounds of Sexual Orientation.

• September 2007 the new training tool was launched; All Clear 2.0

Activities• Development of educational resources, methodologies for

raising awareness and training material

• Provide training for everyone in a workplace; employees, employers, representatives

• Research

• Awareness raising through media, conferences, seminars, trade fairs

Target Groups

• Employers

• Employees

• Trade unionists

Content in a Training session• Personal values exercises• Terms and concepts• The heteronorm and heteronormativity• The importance of being able to be open• Films and discussion

Recommendations

• Work in cooperation with different kinds of organizations

• Focus on structures and norms, but work on a practical level

All Clear(Fritt Fram)

To order books and dvd:s, visit

www.frittfram.se/english

Personal Values Exercises• Sexual orientation is not of interest at work• Heterosexuals talk about their sexual orientation at

work• At my place of work, it would be easy to tell people

that you are gay, lesbian or bisexual

Personal Values Exercise

Sexual orientation is not of interest at work

Yes/No/Maybe

Personal Values Exercise

Heterosexuals talk about their sexual orientation at work

Yes/No/Maybe

Personal Values Exercise

At my place of work, it would be easy to tell people that you are gay, lesbian or bisexual

Yes/No/Maybe

Sexual orientationAssociate freely on sexual orientation

TransvestismTranssexuality

Trans

Homosexuality Bisexuality

S/M

PedophiliaNecrophilia

Fetischism

Heterosexuality

Orientation

Behaviour

genderidentitity, expression

gender

The HeteronormWe are born

Girl Boy

Feminine Masculine

Boys Girls

The Importance of Being Open

Research on Openness in the Workplace

2003: Swedish National Insitute for Working

Life study on working conditions and Vulnerability• General population sample• Occupation sample• LGBT organizations sample• Ca 14,000 responses (50% response rate)

Differences in ExperiencesDegrading and ridiculing opinions abouthomo- and bisexuals in general occur atwork:• 28% of homo- and bisexual women answer ”yes”• 8% of heterosexual women answer ”yes”

Men: 25% and 15%

Swedish National Institute for Working Life, 2003

OpennessNot open to colleagues• 25% in the LGBT organizations sample• 50% in the general and occupation sample

Ewen fewer are open towards ”customer and clients”

Swedish National Institute for Working Life, 2003

Openness• Of those whore not open, 40 % refrain from taking part in

conversation with colleagues and others for fear of being ”outed”

• 60% of those who are not open think that most of their colleagues know that they are homo/bisexual anyway

• Swedish National Institute for Working Life, 2003

Study Conclusions• There are significant differences in experiences

between heterosexuals and homo/bisexuals• A large number are not open• A gender perspective is necessary in the analysis

Similar conclusions were drawn in a 2003 study at Karlsatd University

in Sweden

Method

• Focus on the heterosexual norm

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