Sex is one of the protected characteristics that is defined under the Equality Act. Any discrimination based on Sex is unlawful and we carry out People Impact Assessments to protect our community and staff from this. For more information around our legal duties click here- link to EA and PSED page.
So, how do we consider Sex as a protected characteristic in practice?
In Our Communities
We recognise that some risks will change based on a person’s Sex and we work to ensure that the services we deliver are ones that our communities can relate to and see value in. For example, based on our data we are mindful that sex is factor to consider in road traffic collisions and fire setting behaviours and that young men aged 17-25 are more likely to be involved road traffic collisions and play with fire. Whilst available and delivered to all, we tailor our education programmes based on these trends to help make our communities safer.
We are working hard within our communities to change perceptions and encourage everyone to apply for all of our opportunities. We work on a continuous positive action plan in a bid to break down some of the perceived barriers.
Within Our Workforce
Over 80% of our colleagues identify as men and these are some of the ways our amazing male colleagues are supported in our service:
- Recognition and celebration of International Men’s Day
- Additional communications to raise awareness about health risks that specifically affect men, like testicular cancer.
- A range of health and wellbeing provisions to support issues that affect mostly men in our workplace because they are a majority group in our service.
- Our Women’s Support Network is open to our fabulous male colleagues who not only benefit from the rich and wide discussions we have, but want to know how they can better support their female colleagues and women they live with.
Female Firefighters have been largely underrepresented for many years and 2019 saw the largest % increase in female firefighters since 2009, that has not been due to the reduction in male firefighters (often as a result of retirement or finding other work). We are committed to ensuring all genders are fairly represented in our service so we can serve our communities better. To find out more about how we’re tackling removing barriers click here (link to positive action page).
Our Operational Women’s Network is open to all operational female colleagues. This network is key to driving change to support our female firefighters. Members address key themes such as:
- Working with the menopause
- Balancing family life with operational duties
- Access to sanitary provisions on incidents
- Understanding and working to remove barriers to promotion
Our Women’s Support Network is another key forum for positive change and safe spaces. Progressive workstreams, include the introduction of personal safety workshops, celebrations of key events such as International Women’s Day and important changes to policy, procedure and training for miscarriage and baby loss.
We’re proud to be a White Ribbon accredited organisation that is growing with male Ambassadors and female champions. We are committed to ending men’s violence against women and raising awareness of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and our male ambassadors recognise the important role they play in this.
We know that VAWG can take many different forms, scaling from micro-aggressive attitudes and behaviours to more serious types of assault and even death. We prioritise the agenda to end VAWG throughout our service with training, workshops, communications and our male colleagues know the important role they play as allies.