Lydia Amoah, award-winning business coach, diversity specialist and author, is championing a new STOPIT Protocol to offer businesses advice and guidance on what to do when their employees are faced with online abuse.
In the last couple of months alone, there have been more than 500,000 online hate attacks. The scale of cyber-harms is shocking, with one attack happening every 39 seconds. The five most targeted groups for online hate fall into the categories of race, faith, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
Lydia Amoah, along with Dr Jamie McKeown, is the architect of a new industry protocol to help businesses support employees affected by online abuse and which gives them step-by-step advice and guidance on how to combat transgressions.
Sadly, Lydia was prompted to create the #STOPIT Protocol following her own personal experience of being subject to an online racist attack recently. During the first few minutes of a Zoom ‘inclusive parenting’ session, she was ‘Zoombombed’. Her attacker posted graphic images and then personally honed in on Lydia, calling her the ‘N’ word.
Describing how the attack made her feel in a recent article in Campaign Live, Lydia said the experience left her feeling “exposed, abused, and shocked that something like this could happen.” She has positively channeled the pain and frustration of that encounter into creating the STOPIT guide and wants it to be accessible to everyone.
“Addressing hate attacks and online abuse should be at the top of every employer’s agenda right now. Yes, it might be an uncomfortable conversation, but it’s one that needs to take priority.”
On its importance, Lydia wrote, “Addressing hate attacks and online abuse should be at the top of every employer’s agenda right now. Yes, it might be an uncomfortable conversation, but it’s one that needs to take priority. I know from experience that the alternative is much, much worse.”
“This policy places people at the centre of all business.”
“The STOPIT Protocol aligns to core company values of diversity, trust, honesty and care. This policy places people at the centre of all business. Our desire is that this is used across every organisation so that it becomes standard for everyone.”
In the current climate of increased pressure for mainstream brands to put inclusion and diversity at the core of everything they do, supporting their employees through online abuse in an empathetic and decisive way is simply the right thing to do.
Order your copy of the STOPIT policy here
