International Men’s Day is celebrated around the world on 19th November.
This year, the theme of International Men’s Day is men’s health and wellbeing and promoting a positive conversation about men and masculinity. The aim is to help address some of the issues that affect men and boys today, such as high male suicide rate, men’s health, male victims of violence and the negative portrayal of men.
IMD in the UK takes a gender inclusive approach and therefore believes in ensuring that issues affecting women and girls are also resolved. It also recognises the intersection between gender and other factors such as race and sexuality which can compound the inequalities affecting men and boys.
Here at WeAreTheCity, we will be sharing opinion pieces, covering news and continuing to shine a spotlight on the issues of wellbeing, equality and diversity.
Below you will find a round-up of our favourite articles in support of International Men’s Day:
Why we need to tackle men’s mental wellbeing together
while this crisis has made all of us think about our physical health, we need to make sure that now – more than ever – we’re taking care of our mental wellbeing too.
While the UK has made some brilliant strides at tackling mental health, the truth is we’ve still got a way to go, with suicide being the biggest killer of men under 50.
Studies have shown that men who are depressed are far less likely to talk to someone about it than women. Being seen as a burden, feeling embarrassed or thinking they can just ‘tough it out’ can all stop men from asking for help.
But male wellbeing isn’t just a man’s issue, it can impact the women in their lives too. If men are suffering from depression, anxiety or stress, it can have a huge knock-on effect on their work, parenting ability and relationships. So, in the immortal words of the Beatles, we all need to come together right now to make a difference.
HeForShe: Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE | Founder, The Black Farmer
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE is a British businessman, farmer, and founder of “The Black Farmer” range of food products.
He was born in Jamaica before moving to inner city Birmingham with his parents in the 50s. Wilfred has been a chef, worked in TV production, and had my own food and drink marketing business but in 2000 he realised my dream and bought a farm in Devon. This inspired him to develop and launch his own food brand, the now very successful The Black Farmer brand of gluten free foods.
Being an ally in the workplace: what can you do?
It’s well established that diversity is good for business, but too many companies treat it as a checkbox exercise.
Diversity efforts require more than simply hiring people from different backgrounds. Instead, businesses must identify the countless obstacles that minority groups face and offer them support in overcoming them. In other words, they need allies. An ally is a person who isn’t a member of an underrepresented group but nonetheless makes a concerted effort to support them. Allies in the workplace are fundamental to creating an environment that genuinely embraces diversity and inclusivity. Here are some ways that you can practice allyship in their everyday work.
HeForShe: Suki Sandhu | CEO & Founder, INvolve & Audeliss
Suki Sandhu is CEO and Founder of INvolve and Audeliss.
Suki has worked in executive search for nearly ten years and is one of the UK’s leading specialists who is committed to helping businesses find diverse talent. He established Audeliss, a boutique executive search company in 2011.
INvolve is a membership organisation championing diversity and inclusion in business. INvolve is a motherbrand sitting above OUTstanding, EMpower and HERoes, membership initiatives working respectively across LGBT+, ethnic minority and gender diversity. Through the delivery of events, programmes, thought leadership and advisory services, INvolve helps member firms drive cultural change and create more inclusive workplaces. In addition, OUTstanding, EMpower and HERoes publish role model lists annually in partnership with the Financial Times, celebrating business leaders and future leaders who are leading the charge in their respective diversity spheres, and securing a diverse talent pipeline for the future.
Suki is also a Stonewall Ambassador and supports charities through donating a percentage of profits to Diversity Role Models, Albert Kennedy Trust, StandUp Foundation, Dress for Success, Clic Sargent and Terence Higgins Trust.
Why you should encourage employees to take Shared Parental Leave
A very short answer to this question is because both have a child!
In other words; women don’t just become mothers, people become parents.
Why is it then, that in the UK specifically, only 2% of men take the offer of paternity leave? Thankfully, the tides are turning on this topic and we see employers like Aviva, Spotify, Diageo & Expedia leading the way when it comes to shared parental leave. All of these companies offer equal paid parental leave, ensuring their employees have access to equal benefits, so when taking into the consideration the company that provides two weeks paternity leave and 24 weeks maternity leave, that’s 12x more benefit for the woman. Imagine if a man received one week’s holiday entitlement and a woman twelve weeks, there would be uproar!
HeForShe: Philip Baldwin | Human Rights Activist
Philip Baldwin is a human rights activist.
He was diagnosed with HIV in 2010, at the age of 24. Philip is healthy, happy and successful. Christianity is an important part of his life. He attends St John’s in Waterloo and is a Church of England altar servant. For many years Philip defined himself as an atheist or an agnostic. He began to reappraise the role Christianity could have in his life at the end of 2013. There are four main strands to Philip’s activism: HIV awareness; Hep C; youth homelessness; and faith for LGBT people.
From 2009 to 2015 Philip worked in financial services in London and New York. His career in the City followed on from an undergraduate degree in Modern History from Oriel College, Oxford, an M.Phil in History of Art and Architecture from Peterhouse College, Cambridge and a law conversion in London. Philip’s activism, charitable work and faith are now the main focus of his life.
Charities Philip supports and campaigns for include Stonewall, the Albert Kennedy Trust, the Terrence Higgins Trust, Positively UK and the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group. Philip is a Stonewall Role Model. Philip has a column in Gay Times. He has a gay rights and HIV awareness blog on the Huffington Post. He has contributed a chapter to a book on faith called The Power of My Faith. He is currently finalising a semi-autobiographical book on stigma entitled Positive Damage. Everyone has the right to live with dignity, regardless of sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, disability, age or creed.
