Making marginalised women front and centre

Diversity Council Australia (DCA) said this meant more effort needed to be put into “centring voice” – creating an environment where organisations listen to and prioritise what marginalised people are telling them about the systemic barriers they face.

Just as importantly, it means ensuring those perspectives form the foundation on which diversity and inclusion initiatives that affect those women are built.

Research from DCA has revealed culturally and racially marginalised women’s voices are not centred in matters that directly affect them, even though they possess significant expertise as a result of their lived experiences of racialised gender discrimination.

“Centring voice” has gained popularity, according to DCA, but people rarely understand what it means in a practical sense and how to turn it into action.

The organisation says it is time to demystify the concept of centring marginalised voices at work, a process it hopes to accelerate with the release of new research.

Centring Marginalised Voices at Work: Lessons from DCA’s CARM Women in Leadership Research contains practical tips and lessons drawn from the lived experiences of culturally and racially marginalised women.

“Centring voice is so much more than consultation or tokenism, it’s a crucial process that ensures your work is informed by lived experience,” said CDA CEO Lisa Annese.

The release of the latest research follows the launch last year of DCA’s CARM Women in Leadership report, which shed light on the unique challenges faced by culturally and racially marginalised women at work.

“This year, we’re highlighting key learnings from this pivotal research by calling on organisations to educate themselves on the importance of centring voice,” said Ms Annese.

“We know that by centring CARM women’s voices and lived experiences, we can devise more effective strategies to dismantle the systemic barrier they face.

“This foundational resource clarifies what it is to centre voice, why that is important, and provides a step-by-step guide to how organisations can do it in a practical sense.”

According to the DCA report, centring marginalised voices in relation to diversity and inclusion means:

• Creating safe spaces – create psychologically safe spaces where people with lived experiences of marginalisation can speak up and share their lived experiences, ideas and concerns without fear of backlash or negative consequences
• Listening deeply – listen carefully, and genuinely try to understand the experiences of marginalised people, especially when those experiences are different from our own
• Prioritising perspectives – prioritise the perspectives of marginalised people when creating diversity and inclusion initiatives that focus on them
• Deciding together – actively engage people with lived experiences in decision making about any diveristy and inclusion initiative that aims to address the systemic barriers they face.

DCA will share insights from the new guide in a joint session focused on global challenges and lessons amplifying women’s voices as part of the United Nations 68^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), which takes place on March 11 to 22 in New York.

The new report will be launched today (March 13) at an online event featuring DCA board chair Ming Long and keynote speaker Sheetal Deo, DCA’s senior project manager.