A new programme from Valla, Discrimination First Aider, has been launched to support people suffering from workplace harassment.

According to the Trade Union Congress (TUC), over half of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment while at work, while 70% of Black and Asian people have experienced racial harassment at work.

Despite efforts to tackle these issues, CIPHR reports that discrimination cases have continued to increase in the last five years.

Valla, an online legal platform that helps workers resolve employment issues by representing themselves, has designed the product to help create ‘first responders’ against racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination.

After conducting hundreds of interviews, the company’s founders, Danae Shell and Kate Ho, realised that people often don’t fight workplace discrimination because they don’t have anyone to turn to in the critical first few days after an incident happens.

Inspired by the Mental Health First Aid programme, they created Discrimination First Aid to help people support their colleagues during an incredibly difficult time.

Valla Co-founder and CEO Danae Shell said: “I know from experience what it feels like to hear about shocking behaviour at work and not know how to help. We’ve created this training for everyone who has ever seen something go wrong at work and has felt helpless to stop it.”

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By empowering the UK’s 32.5 million workers to support each other against workplace discrimination, the programme has the potential to change the face of UK workplaces, creating more accountability for employers who have been lax in rooting out discriminatory behaviour.

Unlike traditional DEI training, Discrimination First Aid focuses on holding employers accountable after an incident has taken place and supporting people who may feel alienated by the discrimination they faced.

The course trains first aiders in the basics of equality law, how to spot issues as they arise and how to support someone going through workplace discrimination.

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