Ask Scope to Stop the Exclusion of Ethnically Diverse People & The Clinically Vulnerable from the Disability Equality Awards

“Nothing about us without [all of] us.” 

On October 27 2022 non disabled-led organisation Scope, held the inaugural Disability Equality Awards show with zero awards or acknowledgement given to the activism & community work of our ethnically diverse community. While all winners are valued members of the disabled community & deserving winners, attendees & the wider community were dismayed to see that all winners were white, 12 out of 14 judges were white as well as the vast majority of nominees.

The clinically vulnerable, most at risk & marginalised within our community were also excluded by the lack of COVID safety measures including the most basic provisions of masks, hand sanitiser and testing before attendance.

Furthermore no awards were given by or to those needing virtual or pre-recorded access, again excluding the most marginalised, isolated and bed/housebound of our community.

We’re one of the most intersectional & diverse communities in the world & this exclusion does not represent who we are, and instead echoes the systemic inequalities in opportunities & visibility we experience on a daily basis. This seems to be reflected in the lack of diversity and disability within the leadership team at Scope(1).

Scope is also reported(2) to have also asked members of our disabled community to judge without offering payment for their time, continuing a reported history of asking the disabled community to work for free(3). Scope is an extremely well resourced non disabled led organisation reporting an income of £34million+ in 2021 with its 12 higher earning employees reported to earn £60-£140k bracket(4). There is no reason why the disabled community and judges involved in the awards can not be adequately compensated for their time..

If the judges are not fairly compensated, only those who can afford the time and energy to travel & work for free will be able to participate, continuing to exclude the most marginalised of our community from the table where decisions are made. This is a particularly timely conversation during the cost of living crisis while the disability pay gap(5) has risen to 17% this year.

CONCERNS WITH SCOPE’S APOLOGY STATEMENT

We acknowledge that Scope has made an apology & statement(6), however this was not public, but rather, sent to a few individuals via Twitter. The statement also appears to have been hidden from search engines with a "noindex" code(7). The statement does not demonstrate much-needed accountability or transparency around the awards process or concrete and long-term steps Scope is taking to address its own lack of diversity and disabled representation in its leadership team & organisation.

Scope’s response that they were merely following Government’s guidance is extremely disappointing, especially in light of the repeated failings from this Government to protect disabled people. 

The apology statement also raises further concerns around Scope using unpaid “volunteers” for an 8 month long DEI process & Scope was unable to identify any paid external minority disabled consultants or organisations. The statement does not state if co-producers were paid for their consultation, and who they were, or identify if external disabled access consultants, including those from minority groups, were engaged from the very beginning of the process up until the last delivery phase as well as during the insight phase post event.

Whilst we believe there are ethical concerns around a non-disabled led organisation running an award celebrating disabled people, if Scope is to continue running the awards and events for our community we need inclusion in the following ways:

• Policy made & enforced to pay all disabled people for their work moving forward & increased engagement of disabled external consultants from the inception phase to the final delivery phase
• Active engagement with ethnically diverse communities & individuals & through disabled grassroots led organisations for the nomination & voting process with transparent remuneration.
• COVID protocols & provisions eg. testing before attending, mask requirements and providing hand sanitiser.
• Full transparency around the awards nomination & voting process, in particular how the shortlist is chosen, who is invited and how the judges are selected.
• Hire external disabled accessibility consultants for awards & events.
• Inclusion of those who are not able to physically attend the Awards but are leaders within our community & should be considered for hosting, awards & judging.
• Paid opportunities & decision making positions for Disabled ethnically diverse people within all areas of Scope’s work.

Without real equity & integrating the expertise, skills & lived experience of our truly diverse community, the most marginalised will always be excluded; attempts to be inclusive will continue to be performative.

As a non disabled led charity that accepts millions in funds & speaks to the government on behalf of our community we want Scope to integrate more equitable, diverse, disabled-led consultation in regards to its awards & actions.

“Nothing about us without [all of] us.”

Co-Authored by (in consultation with the wider Disabled Community):

Yen Godden (she/they) - SMM Accessibility Specialist, DEI consultant, NYM Mag

Sukhjeen Kaur (she/her) - Founder/CEO of Chronically Brown

Julia Anstey (they/them) - Accessibility Consultant & Disability Advocate

Priya Rekhi-Smith (she/her) - Co-founder Creative Director NYM mag & Project Director

Roxy Murray (she/they) - Disability & DEI Advocate 

Azeem Ahmad (he/ him) - Founder Inclusion Flows

Pauline Castres (she/her) - Policy researcher & Disabled Climate Activist

Emma Gardner (she/her) - Co-founder of Born Equal Consults, NYM Mag, With Not For Ltd

Victoria Ann Jenkins (she/ her) - Unhidden Universal Fashion

Sabrina Tirvengadum (she/ her) - Co-founder We're All Human

Chloe Johnson (She/Her) - Journalist & Editor

We are a group of minority ethnic / marginalised people & allies from the UK disabled community. You can read quotes from members who co-authored this letter here(8). Our collective has an abundance of relevant lived and professional experience and we write this in the spirit of co-production and progress.

Queries/ contact scope-response(at)inclusionflows.com 

Follow us on instagram @nothing.without.all.of.us

References

1. https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/leadership/
2. 7&8 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sXi47oI9PB6k3seobxFpnWIprdznX8KG37jOPWv1q80/
3. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/scope-accused-of-exploitation-after-seeking-disabled-writer-to-work-for-free/
4. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/
5. https://employeebenefits.co.uk/disability-pay-gap-rises-to-17-2-for-2022/
6. https://www.scope.org.uk/scope-awards-statement/