Credit Management November 2023

EYE OF THE
BEHOLDER
Equality, prejudice, discrimination,
and the limits of the law.
AUTHOR – Amanda Hamilton
WE were recently treated
to the Women’s World
Cup Soccer tournament
which has, for the
very first time in the
tournament’s history,
attracted massive viewings and attendances.
It was a wonderful tournament with plenty
to say about the brilliant standard of play,
and over 12 million people in the UK alone
watched the final between England and Spain
on TV. Women’s’ football has certainly come a
long way particularly in the last ten years.
And yet, Spain’s victory, and the tournament
as a whole has been tainted by the (now
former) Spanish football federation president
grabbing one of the Spanish players’ head
with both hands and giving her a kiss on
the lips. Would he have done the same if
it had been the men’s team that had won?
Absolutely not!
It is clear that while there appears to
be a willingness to have equity between
the sexes, less discrimination and a more
tolerant society, there is evidently no such
thing in practice. Misogyny, homophobia,
discrimination, prejudice and sexism
continue to exist despite the laws that are
there to discourage them. It has just gone
underground and less spoken about. This is
not just in relation to women’s football but to
the whole of society.
In the UK, since 2004 we have had Civil
Partnerships for same sex couples, and in
2014 the same sex marriage Act became
law. On the face of it there should be parity
between heterosexual and homosexual
partners and legally there is. However, in
reality, there remains an underlying streak of
prejudice relating to homophobia.
Indeed, prejudice of all kinds remain. It’s
just more difficult to prove.
The difficulty becomes apparent when
an individual believes they’ve been subject
to any kind of prejudice or discrimination
because it can only be proved if there happens
to be concrete evidence, such as something
in writing, or a voice or video recording.
Evidence is something that is easy to avoid if
you are a perpetrator. All you have to do is to
avoid saying or writing anything specifically
derogatory.
Discrimination, like beauty, is in the eye of
the beholder.
As a reasonable person, one knows whether
a raised voice and/or aggressive action is
aimed at you because you are gay, a woman
or of ethnic origins.
Laws may be there to protect individuals
legally in theory, but in practice they
don’t prevent inequality or injustices or
discrimination from actually happening in
society. It’s just far more difficult to prove.
– Amanda Hamilton
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / November / PAGE 26