Britain’s fire service is too male and too white, a report has claimed.
The report, which was commissioned by the National Fire Chiefs Council
(NFCC), found that the fire service was “institutionally racist, misogynistic and
homophobic”.
It said firemen in Britain were not “diverse” enough because the service’s
proportion of women and ethnic minorities is less than in wider society.
Produced by an advisory group focused on improving diversity, equality and
inclusion in the fire service, the report found that 9.3 per cent of firefighters
were women and 5.4 per cent belonged to ethnic minorities as of March 2024.
The review said: “The common ‘image’ of a firefighter is, for the most part, of
a white heterosexual male turning out in a fire engine to fight fires… The
diversity of the service needs to be much more reflective of the communities
it serves and the wide range of services it delivers.
It goes on to say that “harassment, abuse and discrimination” is rife among
the fire service, including the use of “microaggressions”.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...cism-misogyny/