Equality Legislation - Essay Example

Name Tutor Course Institution Equality Legislation Introduction Equality involves creating an environment where everyone in the society can contribute and have the same opportunity to accomplish their vision. Equality legislation is therefore intended to address inequitable discrimination directed on members of a particular group. It deals with discrimination based on race, sex and disability. Equality means everyone has a right to contribute in the economic, political and social life in the society. Equality legislation involves removing barriers and providing the structures to ensure equal participation for all members of society. It also entails helping the disadvantaged groups realize their economic, social and cultural rights. It will therefore lead to elimination of unlawful racial favoritism and uphold equality of opportunity and good associations between people of diverse racial groups. It also encourages an exchange of ideas, values, beliefs and views among the diverse ethnic communities in the society, promoting cultural diversity (European Commission 2000) Ireland and Europe are changing very rapidly, becoming even more complex and multifaceted and it is imperative to engage with that change. In the recent years, many minority ethnic groups have come into Ireland and Europe from all nationalities. These minority ethnic groups have been subjects to racial intimidation and violence. Reports of racist incidents and racist crime have been on the rise and have captured the attention of both the local and international media. Equality legislation will bring about greater diversity in terms of race, age, religion, disability and sex. The future of Europe and Ireland depend on their cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. Anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia are proving to be major challenges to the achievement of this goal. They create a threat which must be dealt with all over Europe. The only solution is enactment of equality legislation (European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia 2002). Although Ireland has a complex range of equality legislation which was introduced at different points in time to tackle specific problems, however, they do not seem to address the new emerging problems associated with modernism. The key legislation includes; Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex discrimination Act 1976, Race relation 1997, Employment Equality Act 1998 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Though the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Act has achieved great change, it has had limited effect in some areas. Despite the fact that pay gap has significantly reduced, permanent employees are lowly paid as compared to temporary employees. While women are increasing taking part in paid work and even in senior positions, they are still repulsively underrepresented in specific occupations and in higher managerial positions. Women are also subjects to home and workplace sexual and physical abuse (Lenin and McVeigh 2002). New equality legislation is needed to address the inherent inequalities that face the Black and minority ethnic groups, as well as migrant workers and travelers, in a range of areas, for example health and social care, housing, education and employment. Higher rates of unemployment have been reported among immigrants and minorities than among nationals in both Ireland and Europe. Immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers experience difficulties securing employment due to their professional skills and lack of experience in the host country. As a result, they engage in low skilled, low paid, unhealthy and risky jobs. Landlords are usually reluctant to rant their houses to immigrants and therefore, they end up living in low quality houses. Most immigrants also do not have access to basic education and health care services. There are high rates of illiteracy and death among immigrants and minority ethnic groups (Lenin and McVeigh 2002). There is need for new equality legislation because the number of legal provisions to address discrimination has grown rapidly since the first discrimination Acts was passed. The enactment of equality legislation can be useful in three ways: First, it will lead to establishment of new rights and create the institutional supports for accessing those rights and will serve as an approach of addressing inequalities in an integrated way. The European Union is established on the principles of freedom, equality and respect for human rights. Protection of all people against discrimination is necessary to a successful functioning of such a society. The enactment of the employment Equality Act will help to tackle problems of discrimination in relation to employment on nine basis; age, family status, gender, marital status, race, sex and religion. This Act will help address discrimination in relation to access to employment, work conditions, promotion, training and development of employees, reasonable salaries and wages and work experience. It will protect workers against discrimination by employers, employment agencies, vocational training and vocational bodies. The development of new equality legislation will help achieving gender equality in Ireland and Europe (European Commission 2000) Equality legislation will help the Irish society to solve the challenges it is facing as regards racism and will lead to inclusion across a broad cultural diversity. This in turn will result to creation of an intercultural society. It also institutes a program for change that will lead to greater equality in political, economic, cultural and affective terms. It will ensure that all people, regardless of race, have access to society’s resources, relationships of caring, respect and unity, a status where their culture and identity is acknowledged and accommodated and participate in decision making at all levels. An intercultural society has the ability to differentiate between cultural phenomena and negative behaviors that exist within all groups. Equality legislation will therefore lead to accommodation of a cultural diversity within a context of individual human rights (Amnesty International Racism in Ireland 2001). Equality legislation is needed in Ireland and Europe because they have not adequately addressed the problem of diversity within Black and minority ethnic groups. There is a growing incidence of racist attacks and violence in Ireland and Europe. The most common racially motivated crimes include lethal violence, violent assault, threats, incitement to hatred and violence and property destruction. The enactment of new legislation will lead to elimination of racial discrimination and hence, a reduction in racial crimes. This will help address the problem of prisoner’s congestions in prisons. The Irish attitudes towards minority ethnic groups are solidifying and becoming highly negative. The minority ethnic women are frequently experiencing racist violence or abuse. For example, the Islamic women are often a focus of mockery for adopting a certain dressing style. Apart from being objects of violence, women from the Black and minority ethnic groups are also more often isolated and have limited access to mainstream services as compared to women from the majority population (NCCRI 2002). Minority ethnic groups experience high levels of isolation and exclusion from the social and cultural networks that form the fabric of community life. Most asylum-seekers, refugees and migrant workers experiences severe losses when compelled to leave behind their family members when they attempt to look for protection or employment elsewhere. These have served as potential barriers for Black and minority ethnic groups to participate in building social capital and voluntary activity. Equality legislation will promote integration and address the problem of isolation experienced by asylum-seekers, refuges and migrant workers. It will also promote social cohesion and lead to creation of solidarity within the larger community. Equality legislation serves as one of the critical steps towards achieving equality. It creates a framework against which discrimination of all sort can be done away with, leading to constructive social change. It creates parity throughout society. Equality legislation leads to creation of a more attractive and positive working environment, where everyone would feel comfortable working in (Combat Poverty Agency 2002). Equality legislation will ensure that all prisoners have access to all interventions available and that their diverse needs are taken into account regardless of their race, sex, religion, disability and age. It will ensure that prisoners are appraised and supervised in a non-discriminatory manner and that the views of the minority ethnic group are taken into account when developing policies and delivering services. It will also promote an interactive environment between prisoner’s staff and prisoners and among prisoners themselves. This will solve the problem of harassment and isolation based on minority ethnic groups in prisons. Equality legislation will also ensure that the prison’s workforce reflects the diversity of Ireland and Europe population and that they display outstanding employment practices. This in turn will result to efficient, high-quality and impartial delivery of public service to prisoners, maintenance of good working relations among the staff, accomplishment of the organization vision through the successful development and contribution of all the staff. Finally, the organization will be able to function fairly and consistently, with honesty and professionalism, respecting the varied needs of the prisoners and staff (Biddle and Pavey 1995). In conclusion, equality legislation is a panacea for cultural diversity as it promotes the exchange of ideas, values and beliefs across a wide range of ethnic groups. It enhances the protection of all people in society against any unlawful discrimination, promoting integrity, unity, solidarity and social cohesion among the diverse ethnic groups in the society. It serves to improve service delivery to all, regardless of their race, religion, sex, disability and ethnic groups, hence, improving the welfare of the minority ethnic groups in society and of the community at large. Equality legislation will lead to improvement of both the public and private sector performance. Work Cited Amnesty International Racism in Ireland: The Opinions of Black and ethnic minorities. http://www.amnesty.ie, 2001. Biddle J. and Pavey P. Managing race relations in prison establishments. London, Commission for Racial Equality and HM Prison Servile, 1995. Combat Poverty Agency, NCCRI. Ethnicity, Racism and social exclusion in Ireland, 2002. European Commission. Directive for equal treatment, irrespective of race or ethnic origin, 2000. European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. Guidelines for RAXEN 3 phase, 2002. Lenin R. and McVeigh R. Racist and anti-racism in Ireland. Beyond the Pale: University of Michigan, 2002. NCCRI. Incidents related to racism reported to the NCCRI October to March 2002, 2002. Read More