Equality, diversity and rights at workplace in Westminster City Essay

Equality, diversity and rights at workplace in Westminster City Council - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that equality and right to equal opportunities are still evident and persistent in most of the places, be it at school, workplace, or society in whole. The exploitation of equal rights is more prevalent in places with diversified culture. Gender equality and women’s rights have gained growing attention over the past decades as a result of which international labor standards and national legislation have been adopted on a wide range of related issues. According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development global inequality continued to grow over the 20th century and is still increasing in countries and between countries. OECD estimates that the quantum of inequality will be even larger by the year 2020 between OECD countries and poor countries. The gap inequality on global front is large, but the same gap persists within the nation on the basis of gender, class, ethnicity, age, disability, health, income, employment, etc. Witcher states that mainstreaming equality is done through incorporating equal opportunities issues into all actions, programmes, and policies from the outset. Various legislations have been enacted in the United Kingdom to eradicate the unequal treatment in the society. The first and foremost legislation, Equal Pay Act 1970, was passed to dismantle the roots of inequality in pay rates which were biased towards men as women were paid less comparatively while working in the same capacity as of their male counterpart. Later on various legislations like Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999, Gender Recognition Act 2004, Gender Equality Duty of 2007, Disability Discrimination Acts, Race regulations, employment equality (religion or belief) regulations 2003, employment equality (age) regulations 2006, were enacted and passed so as to provide equal opportunities and protect their rights to equality of vulnerable groups. The recent legislati on, Equality Act 2010 lays the cross-cutting legislative framework to protect the rights of individuals and promote equal opportunities to all and to eradicate discriminatory practices in the society. The act strengthens the previous equal rights acts of disability and employment by preventing the employers from screening the disabled applicant from the recruitment process. The Equality Act 2010 addresses all the problems regarding equal rights and equal opportunities in the society including the workplace. Westminster borough is situated towards the west of London City and home of the UK government at the Palace of Westminster also known as ‘Theatreland’ which is home to numerous landmarks. It is the official residence of Queen with Buckingham place in the boundaries. The borough is an employer of choice, promotes culture, and provides a working environment free from all forms of discrimination and inequality like bullying, harassment, and victimization. Consultation d raft on Single Equality Scheme 2010-13 prepared by Westminster City Council mentioned that it is extremely diverse city attracting new migrants and most of the residents in the council are born outside the United Kingdom. The draft further mentions that more than half of its residents are non-white British, the high proportion of residents are of working age, different religious beliefs, and nearly 15% of them have the disability.

Influence of media on public opinion and foreign policy formulation Essay

Influence of media on public opinion and foreign policy formulation - Essay Example The issue of public opinion and its influence in foreign policy making has been a matter of dispute between different schools of thought both during and since the Cold War.On the one hand, realists find public opinion volatile, emotional, lacking coherence and structure, and with little if any influence on foreign affairs. On the other, liberalists suggest that public opinion on international affairs is stable, sensibly structured, consistent, and influences foreign policy making in a ‘reciprocal relationship’. Hence, some leaders take into account the public opinion when making important decisions others ignore it (Guraziu, 2008, p.2) In most of the democratic countries, governments often consider public opinion seriously since they need the support of the public to stay in power. If they avoid or neglect public opinion, it is difficult for them to win future elections. On the other hand, in countries where communist or totalitarian administration prevails, governments often neglect the public opinion because of the superior power enjoy by such governments. Such governments often put some control over the media in order to block the media from spreading information against the government. For example, in communist China, all the television programs and internet coverage of incidents were strictly censored before displaying it in front of the public. The advancements in science and technology caused tremendous changes in every segment of human life. The introduction of computers, internet, television, mobile phones and other digital equipment has made drastic changes in the communication world. It is often said that the information is at the finger tips at present. Earlier, people relied heavily on newspapers for getting information and therefore they succeeded in getting only delayed information. At present it is possible for the public to see the live telecast of incidents. In other words, public are able to get the information as soon as it happ ens now. Instant communication helped the public to respond more effectively to the information they are receiving. â€Å"Media is all about connecting people and mirroring the society that we live in. Media is all about reflecting on daily happenings around the globe. People are not just the audience but also an essential element of news in itself† (What is the Importance of Public Opinion in Media, 2011). Moreover, â€Å"The media are the deliverers of a message, and through this message the audience comprehends and forms opinions on events. This makes the mass media both an opportunity and a threat for the sides engaged in a conflict†(Simons, 2008, p.79). Media plays an important role in influencing public opinion on various issues. â€Å"In the vein of political theorist V.O. Keyes, I believe that the validity of public opinion is only as good as the what the media leads them to believe†(Jones, 2008). In fact ordinary people may not bother much to analyze th e information when they receive it. Media helps them to understand the consequences of certain information because of the in depth analysis and coverage of news and information happens in the current media. For example, US foreign policy and the Middle East affairs undergo immense public debate only because of the micro level analysis of these topics by the media. Public opinion is a dominant force in American politics. Research produced by the Statistics Department in Washington for the end of the 1990's indicated that in one year the average American would: watch about 1000 hours of network television watch about 400 hours of cable television spend 150 hours reading a newspaper spend 100 hours reading magazines (Public Opinion, 2011) This paper analyses the influence of media in formulating public opinion and foreign policy, taking US foreign policy and the Middle East affairs as examples. Influence of Media on Middle East Affairs & US Foreign Policy Significantly, during a Senate committee meeting on American foreign