Amnesty Int: toxic work environment

[thatdamnwoman]

A report into the toxic work environment at Amnesty International has led to the senior leadership team offering to resign:

www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/22/amnesty-international-leaders-offer-to-resign-over-bullying-workplace-culture

Amnesty, as has been noted here, has taken a strongly pro-trans/ anti-women line — while at the same time claiming to support women. Sounds as if it's imploded under the strain.

Looks like the problem was related to restructuring that started in 2014, in which AI started pressuring long serving staff to leave their home nations and move to the “global south” so AI was more representative of developing nations:

www.thirdsector.co.uk/amnesty-international-pledges-reform-employee-suicide/management/article/1519032

I wonder if being in the “global south” actually leads to measurably better outcomes, or if it just has nicer optics?

I worked there in the 1990s. The environment was male-dominated and toxic even then. I was bullied by my (male) line manager. Sounds like the situation has only deteriorated since then.

It is falling apart now because it has all come out in the open following the deaths of the staff members. If it weren't for the bad publicity, nothing would have happened. Very much a case of 'I'm sorry' really meaning 'I'm sorry I got caught.'

An offer to resign en mass sounds like brinksmanship to me.

It would be exceedingly difficult for the organization to replace its whole leadership team at once, they’d probably loose a couple of years of effectiveness. Better than keeping them (IMO, given that overview of the report into a long term and escalating horrendous workplace culture) but imagine any board would baulk.

What the F does this have to do with trans people?! Some of the resigning bullies are women!

Possibly because they are the most vocal of the large charities to push the trans agenda.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3247297-Ok-Amnesty-International-is-straight-up-trolling-women-now

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3249915-PETITION-Shon-Faye-And-Amnesty-International-Women-making-History

I'm sure most people know but Amnesty thought it perfectly acceptable for someone who told women to "enjoy their erasure" to host a Women Making History event.

I'm not surprised for a second the people at the top of this were nasty bastards. Shame on them for wreaking a once great campaigning force.

Besides the trans thing, there is also the pimps rights 'sex workers' rights campaign.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/prostitution-sex-trade-punters-pimps-womens-rights-exploited-hiv-condom-rule-a7913121.html

I lost all respect for Amnesty when they started defending men's right to have sex as somehow more important than women's right to live free from the threat of sexual violence and economic coercion into unwanted sex.