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Stop and Search: can we continue to justify the use of this police power?
Maeve Keenan
Recent events around the globe have made the reality of racial inequality in society feature at the forefront of media coverage, political discussion and social consciousness, but the effect of this inequality has been felt by those in the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community long before this. It has become clear that there is a lot of work to be done to address these inequalities in every aspect of society and Covid-19 has demonstrated that significant progress must be made in the healthcare sector to protect patients and healthcare workers from a BAME background.
A report published by Public Health England in June 2020 found that BAME patients were between 10% and 50% more likely to die as a result of contracting Covid-19 than patients from a white British background. This is an alarmingly high rate and has attracted (some) media attention as a result.
Part of this disparity could be impacted -by other socioeconomic factors relevant to Covid-19 such as the larger average household size of BAME families compared with white families. However, those socioeconomic factors do not in themselves explain the significantly higher fatality rate for BAME patients. One must therefore question whether the material issue again falls back to the poorer experience BAME people have within the healthcare system. It appears that much of this inequality is due to other long-standing issues around unconscious bias and the clinical care provided to BAME patients more generally.
For example, it has been clear for some time that there are stark racial inequalities in the statistics around BAME women suffering fatal complications during childbirth when compared with their white counterparts. Reports produced by MBRRACE-UK since 2014 have found that black women are five times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. Asian women and women of mixed ethnicity are two and three times more likely respectively to suffer fatal complications during childbirth than white women.
Crucially, a report produced by Nuffield Department of Population Health and the University of Oxford suggest that the quality of maternity care provided to BAME mothers could have contributed to these statistics. The report found that BAME mothers experienced longer hospital stays, were less likely to receive pain relief during labour and received fewer home visits from midwives than white women.
Further, accounts provided by midwives and nursing staff have reported incidents of unconscious bias. This includes occasions where white medical staff have commented on a BAME patient’s pain threshold being relative to their ethnicity or assumed that BAME patients lack English skills and as such, cannot make informed decisions in relation to their medical care. One must question whether an ability to speak English, if that is indeed a factor rather than a presumption, is a pre-requisite to being able to communicate pain or make assisted decisions about healthcare.
The issue around the perception of BAME patients and how this impacts the medical care they receive is also reflected in the story of Serena Williams’ experience during childbirth when she suffered serious complications as a result of a pulmonary embolism (a potentially life-threatening condition which involves a blocked blood vessel in a patient’s lungs). Serena Williams has stated that after delivering her child, she raised concerns regarding experiencing shortness of breath, which she knew was a symptom of a pulmonary embolism as she had experienced this condition as part of her medical history. However, she was perceived as being ‘confused’ due to her pain medication even though she had clearly stated that she knew she required a CT scan with contrast and a blood thinner. It was only after Serena Williams repeated this a number of times that a CT scan with contrast was completed, confirming that she had several blood clots in her lungs, and she was subsequently provided with blood thinners.
There is no question that Serena Williams is one of the most accomplished athletes in the world and a global icon. Yet, she was forced to advocate for herself repeatedly before her concerns were viewed as legitimate and acted on by her medical team. Despite her status, Serena Williams almost fell victim to the same issues that black women face within the healthcare sector and which lead to dangerous or life-threatening pregnancy-related complications.
This raises two questions. Firstly, how likely are other patients of a BAME background to have their concerns listened to and acted on appropriately? And secondly, how far does this issue contribute to the disproportionately high fatality rate of BAME patients?
Listening to a patient is one of the fundamental requirements of adequately diagnosing, treating and caring for them. The lessons learned from Covid-19 must therefore also include a wider discussion around the issue of racial inequalities in the healthcare setting and unconscious bias in diagnosis and treatment to ensure that the disproportionate risk to patients from a BAME background is addressed and rectified.
In the final blog of our Pride 2022 series, we say thank you to everyone who, in their own way, seek to make the world a kinder, better place for the LGBT* community.
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride March held in London. We are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog every week throughout June.
As part of our Pride month blog series, I have reviewed the period 1982 – 1992; the decade in which I was born. In the hope that I can still consider myself to be fairly young, to me, the 1980s do not seem that long ago. In researching the developments made during this decade, however, I was shocked reflecting on how out of touch and discriminatory the law, media and social views still were at the time.
Refugee Week seems like the perfect opportunity to celebrate and introduce CARAS, one of KN’s two newly nominated charities which we will be supporting for the years 2022-2024.
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride Rally held in London. We are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog every week throughout June.
The imminent change to the standard of proof in asylum claims risks imposing unreasonable expectations on LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and will make it more difficult for them to demonstrate their entitlement to refugee status.
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride Rally held in London, and we are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog each week throughout Pride Month. This weeks blog covers the decade of of 2002-2012.
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride Rally held in London, and we are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog each week throughout Pride Month.
We were recently excited and grateful to announce that Kingsley Napley was named in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2022 of Top 100 Employers List for LGBTQ+ people. While it is vital for workplaces to commit to inclusion and create a welcoming environment for their LGBTQ+ staff, the annual celebration of Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV) importantly draws attention to the critical need for more meaningful visibility in the media and beyond in order to pave the way for trans liberation in wider society.
Few would disagree with the suggestion that, in order to really understand an artwork and the full extent of its cultural resonance, one needs to know something about the artist who made it.
Our 2022 report provides an overview of our activities and initiatives across the broad spectrum of diversity. It also includes our statistics for gender, ethnicity, and disability, which reflect our aim of creating a workforce that is fully representative of UK society, at all levels of the business.
The UK Government proposals to ban conversion therapy fall short and risk criminalising gender identity counselling services.
On 29 October 2021 the Government launched a consultation on restricting conversion therapy. Although the Government proposals are a step in the right direction, it only limits conversion therapy rather than banning it outright.
When I became Senior Partner of Kingsley Napley in 2018, I made a very clear pledge to the firm – that I would make it one of my key objectives to increase diverse talent and foster a culture of inclusivity.
Marcia Longdon was recently asked about her journey into law and whether she had a story to share. Marcia initially thought that she didn't have a story. However, as the interview unfolded, the interviewer looked over the camera and said, er, are you sure? So here it is.
A question that emerges for Black people all over Britain every October is “How can I celebrate the stories of those that have come before me?” In contrast the question that naturally comes to mind for those who are not of Black origin is “If I’m not Black how do I participate in Black History?” Whilst the questions appear to be different there is a common theme – both query how people can do Black History month justice, both have a desire to adequately celebrate a rich history that means so much to so many. But rest assured you should feel comfortable and welcome to celebrate the history of another culture.
Celebrating this year’s Black History Month (BHM) with is powerful campaign, “Proud to Be”, is an apt time for us all to consider why we (should) care about Black history and culture.
When Black History Month was established in the United States, over a century ago, it was intended as a way to celebrate and give national recognition to black stories and perspectives.
At Kingsley Napley, we believe in the power of diverse and representative stories and we have found some wonderful and effective ways to share them that you might like to try too.
The visibility of the “B” in our LGBTQ+ umbrella is marked every year on 23 September. At Kingsley Napley, we are proud to have bisexual members of our LGBTQ+ and Allies Network and strive for everyone to feel like they can be themselves and bring their whole selves to work. Outside KN, and in this year alone, Robin has come out as bisexual in the new Batman comic, more awareness has been raised about bisexuality with celebrities, such as Megan Fox, Lily Cole, speaking out and there is more representation of bisexual people in mainstream shows, such as Sex Education, Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
To mark Suicide Prevention Day and raise awareness of the prevalence of deaths by suicide in the UK, Kingsley Napley is set to host a mental health panel discussion on 10 September 2021.
On the 28 July 2021, the Government unveiled the highly anticipated National Disability Strategy (‘the strategy’). Pledged in the Government’s 2019 manifesto, the aim is to “improve the everyday lives of disabled people”. The Prime Minister described the strategy as the most comprehensive, concerted, cross-government plan relating to disability ever. A bold claim, but is it justified?
In this REACH podcast hosted by Shannett Thompson Partner in Regulatory, Shannett discusses joining the Halo code, the topic of hair discrimination and what hair discrimination means to them with Kingsley Napley employees from across the firm
Listen to the podcastIn this episode, Shannett Thompson and Donna Cummings delve into issues around BAME recruitment.
Listen to the podcastIn this podcast episode of KN BAME Talks for Black History Month 2020, Ash Cooper, IT Director at Kingsley Napley, talks about positive representation and his career in the tech industry.
Listen to the podcastUrban Lawyers works to makes the law more accessible as a career to marginalised groups and improve social mobility and diversity in the legal profession.
View Urban Lawyers CC 2019 siteKingsley Napley's BAME and LGBTQ & Allies networks hosted a series of talks at London's Arboretum on 16 October 2019. The focus of the event was to open up the conversation about intersectionality, whilst shining a light on the progress of Black History Month in Britain. The speakers were Charles Irvine, Anthony Francis, Debo Nwauzu and Dr S Chelvan.
Drawing from the strength of shared experiences, women around the world have been uniting in common struggles such as sexual and domestic violence, pay inequality, reproductive autonomy and climate change. While great leaps forward have been made and women-led movements have been gaining unprecedented attention and support , minority ethnic women are often left behind as these struggles are compounded with the intersection of their race/ethnicity and gender.
View blog postHolocaust Memorial Day, on 27 January 2020, will mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, where more than a million people perished in gas chambers, most of them Jews. The day is internationally marked in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust and other appalling acts of genocide, including later atrocities in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, and to recognise that the lessons of the Holocaust are still relevant, especially at a time when racism and extremism is on the rise across Europe.
View blog postOur most recent book is by Nikesh Shukla.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently launched a consultation on proposed amendments to its Listing Rules aimed at improving diversity and inclusion on company boards and executive committees. In particular, they are seeking feedback on proposals to require listed companies to publicly disclose annually whether they meet specific board diversity targets, including in relation to ethnicity, and to publish the composition of their boards and most senior level of executive management. To understand why such proposals are necessary, it is important to consider the current state of ethnic minority representation in UK leadership, why diversity at senior levels is so vitally important and what steps can employers take to improve diversity.
View blog postWe welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.
Maeve Keenan
Catherine Bourne
Marcia Longdon
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