Mercy For Animals is dedicated to equality and protecting those
vulnerable to abuse. These values are at the core of our mission and apply to
everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, age, race, or species.
We support the long-overdue and much-needed discussion now taking place
in our society regarding sexism and harassment in the workplace—something that,
sadly, invades all corners of our world, including the animal rights movement.
Our hearts go out to all the brave victims who have told their stories.
We stand with you, and we thank you for everything you are doing to make our
community safer. Your courage and strength inspire us.
Our employees, volunteers, and donors are the heart and soul of MFA. As
we move forward together, we will fiercely protect any member of our MFA family
subjected to misconduct, and we have put in place a stronger-than-ever anti-harassment and
discrimination policy
that reinforces this.
No workplace is immune to unconscious bias, stereotyping,
and other subtle forms of discrimination. We recognize that these require
deliberate efforts to dismantle. That’s why we will take additional steps to
extensively train all our
staff on recognizing unconscious biases and promoting workplace civility,
harassment prevention, and diversity and inclusion. We want to fully equip MFA
managers to support their staff and play an active role in addressing and
preventing discrimination and harassment.
We must dispel the harmful, inaccurate notion that
speaking up about sexual harassment could harm animals—far from it. Creating a
sustainable, effective movement requires bold action and open conversation on
this issue. Silencing those who would speak up about harassment not only makes
us less effective but violates the very principles we stand for as a movement
working to address interconnected forms of oppression.
Although many barriers can prevent those affected by
harassment or discrimination from speaking up, we want to eliminate these
barriers wherever we can. We will spend more time examining our workplace
culture through quarterly staff surveys, and we have established a culture
committee, made up of MFA staff across teams and management levels, to help us
continually improve.
Prevention is ultimately the only way to guarantee a safe workplace. We
will soon hold training for all our staff on additional steps and resources for
preventing harassment and bullying and promoting actions that create an inclusive,
safe working environment.
Ongoing learning and improvement are central to MFA, and we acknowledge that we can do more to
proactively address these issues. At this critical turning point, we are
dedicated to listening, reflecting, and striving to
do better. And we are committed to becoming the movement’s leaders on this
issue.
We encourage anyone who has thoughts or suggestions or
would like to discuss these issues to reach out to me at
[email protected]. We will take your suggestions to heart as we work to
become a more just and inclusive organization.