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Ways to Stop and Prevent Discrimination and Sexism in Fintech Featured in Crowdsourced Resource

March 12, 2024
2 Min Reads

The goal of a new resource developed by prominent Australian tech leaders is to address the issue of discrimination and sexism in the country's tech and investment sectors.

There are alternatives for bullying, harassment, abuse, and assault in the resource "Addressing Sexism in Australian Tech & Investment." It also clarifies why it can be difficult for organizations and people to speak out against the problems. This is on top of the price of doing nothing and the traits of the IT sector that can make it more vulnerable to sexism.

Elaine Stead, the founder of Human VC, led its establishment, with assistance from Third Hemisphere, a PR firm that specializes on IT, finance, and climate issues. The resource is meant to be a "living" document that will be updated when more industry leaders give up fresh ideas and solutions.
 

The database includes a list of industry standards of behavior, reporting guidelines, and enforcement actions from well-known organizations and people, including Southern Angels, Blackbird, the Australian Investment Council, and Jenna Polson, director of operations at ANDHealth.

The work is not finished yet.

In an effort to create industry-wide momentum and a critical mass in addressing the issue, Stead is now urging any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) specialists, more Australian venture capitalists, and other prominent figures in the digital sector to offer their knowledge to the resource.

"When we put out a public call for input to this industry-wide resource, many people proactively asked 'how can we help?'" stated Elaine Stead, founder of Human VC. However, throughout the course of the forty-plus talks we had, it became evident that many executives in the tech sector were unaware of their own involvement in various ways and had no clue how to solve the issue.

Even though they had the best of intentions, many of the companies were noticeably tiny and had insufficient time, money, and training to handle the problems. Therefore, we want to reduce the obstacles to preventing and dealing with bad behavior by providing any interested party with free access to a one-stop shop of pre-existing information.
 

"I applaud every individual and organization who contributed their time and expertise to this resource, as well as to the many conversations that informed its contents," said Hannah Moreno, Third Hemisphere's creator and managing director. An industry-wide strategy is required to solve an issue that affects the entire sector. Victims shouldn't be the only ones responsible for resolving problems that they didn't cause.

Going forward, we'll witness a continued rise in highly visible action against sexism in this and numerous other areas. Joining this movement early on is not only the right thing to do, but it is also the best defense for businesses and individuals against backlash from the general public, the media, and the capital markets.
 

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