Welcome to episode 15 of Justice Studio Sessions. In this concluding episode of series one, we have a frank discussion about what it means to run a consultancy focused on social justice. In this episode we discuss the challenges of running a small values based business in an industry that favours the big boys.

For this episode Marianne Moore, foundress of Justice Studio, is joined by Dr Irum Ali a social scientist and consultant who runs the organisation Inclusive Growth with her co-founder. Irum has nearly two decades of experience in both the academic and charity fields, working on a range of projects across research, policy and evaluation areas. Her current areas of interest lie in diversity, equity and inclusion in the charity sector, the impact of poor public service provision on marginalised communities and race equality policy.

In this no holds barred episode, Irum and Marianne talk about their personal experiences and frustrations running a consultancy committed to social justice and equity in a capitalist world. We hope the topics raised will resonate with other consultants and small business owners and can be a force for more community rather than competition amongst us.

Links for this episode:

Follow Irum on Linkedin: Irum Ali

Visit her website: www.inclusivegrowth.co

Justice Studio’s website: www.justicestudio.org

Follow Justice Studio on Instagram: @justicestudio

Follow Justice Studio on Twitter: @justicestudio

Follow Marianne on Instagram @creatrix.london

Welcome to episode 14 of Justice Studio Sessions. In this episode we discuss three international safeguarding scandals.

In 2018 it was discovered that senior Oxfam staff had paid local young women for sex whilst working in the response to the Haiti earthquake. The Oxfam Haiti incident was not an isolated incident, however. In this episode Marianne talks about the Oxfam Scandal as well as two other scandals that shook the international aid community but took place earlier: These are the UN DynCorp Trafficking case in Bosnia in early 2000s, and the UNHCR Peacekeepers scandal in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone around the same time.

Please be advised that this episode contains distressing content.

References

Bosnia:

Bolkovac, K & Lynn, C. 2011. The Whistleblower. Palgrave Macmillan: New York.

Human Rights Watch. Nov 2002. HOPES BETRAYED. Volume 14 No. 9 (D)

Jennings, K. 2017. The Immunity Dilemma. E-International Relations p.1

Simm, G. ‘Regulating sex in peace operations: Dyncorp in Bosnia.’ Open Access: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1q1crtm

Martina Vandenberg, Complicity, Corruption, and Human Rights Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol34/iss3/3

West Africa

UNHCR and Save the Children-UK Sexual Violence & Exploitation in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone 2001 to 2002.

IASTC Report 13 June 2002

UK House of Commons. Sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector. 23 July 2018.

Haiti

Oxfam GB Haiti Investigation Final Report – Confidential 2011

Charity Commission. 2019. ‘Summary Findings and Conclusions Oxfam.’

Charity Commission. 2019. ‘Statement of the Results of an Inquiry into Oxfam .’

The New Humanitarian: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigations/2018/02/13/exclusive-oxfam-sexual-exploiter-haiti-caught-seven-years-earlier-liberia

FCDO progress report on safeguarding against sexual exploitation abuse and harassment (SEAH) in the international aid sector.

Links:

Justice Studio’s website: www.justicestudio.org

Follow Justice Studio on Instagram: @justicestudio

Follow Justice Studio on Twitter: @justicestudio

Follow Marianne on Instagram @creatrix.london

Welcome to Episode 13 of Justice Studio Sessions. In this episode we discuss young people in Wessex, South West England. We focus on the work of the Wessex Dance Academy which is a dance school for young people aged 15-25 based in Hampshire. The young people referred to the Academy are either excluded from, or not attending, school, care leavers or those with experience of the criminal justice system. Justice Studio was lucky enough to work with the academy twice – in 2013 when we undertook an outcomes study, and again in 2020 to do a refresher of the study as the covid 19 pandemic broke.

We are lucky to have Clare Hobbs with us for the discussion. Clare is the creator of the Wessex Dance Academy, establishing it 2009 because she wanted to bring dance to those who would not otherwise experience it. As manager of the Academy, she and her team, have been working closely with the young people ever since.

In this episode we discuss the lives of the young people who have been through the Academy, how the programme operates and the positive outcomes they are able to achieve in the young people’s confidence and self-esteem. We look at the challenges it faces in a funding landscape that does not always acknowledge the importance of the arts and touch on how the pandemic has affected a growing number of young people who are not in school.

Links

Follow Wessex Dance Academy on Instagram: @wessexdanceacademy

Justice Studio’s website: www.justicestudio.org

Follow Justice Studio on Instagram: @justicestudio

Follow Justice Studio on Twitter: @justicestudio

Follow Marianne on Instagram @creatrix.london

Title Music by Luke Fraser @the_tonic_

Show Artwork by Marianne @creatrix.studio