Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

BBC Women calls for ‘real and urgent’ action to tackle racism and sexism

The BBC Women group has called for “real and urgent” action to end “racism and sexism” at the corporation (Ian West/PA)
The BBC Women group has called for “real and urgent” action to end “racism and sexism” at the corporation (Ian West/PA)

The BBC Women group has called for “real and urgent” action  to end “racism and sexism” at the corporation.

The group, made up of dozens of presenters and producers, said the death of American George Floyd has impacted ethnic minority staff at the corporation.

Mr Floyd, who was black, died in police custody last month and a video of his arrest showed a white officer kneeling on his neck for several minutes while he gasped for breath.

BBC Stock
The BBC Women group has called for ‘real and urgent’ action  to end ‘racism and sexism’ at the corporation (Ian West/PA)

The incident has sparked anti-racism protests around the world.

In a statement, BBC Women said: “The killing of George Floyd has impacted black, Asian and ethnic minority staff at the BBC.

“Many have been highlighting insidious racism for years. Fairness is at the heart of the BBC’s mission and BBC Women now demand REAL and URGENT action to end both racism and sexism at work”.

BBC Women formed in 2017 following a furious response to a significant disparity in pay between men and women at the corporation.

Carrie Gracie resigned from her post as China editor after finding out she earned less than male journalists in similar jobs at the BBC, while in January Samira Ahmed won her sex discrimination equal pay claim against the broadcaster.

In October last year June Sarpong was hired in the newly-created role of director of creative diversity in a bid to make the BBC “more inclusive”.

The most recent list of the corporation’s highest earners, released in July 2019, showed Claudia Winkleman, Vanessa Feltz and Zoe Ball in the top 10.