Following comments made by Harriet Harman that "men cannot be trusted to run things on their own" and that “men-only leaderships” are a “thoroughly bad thing”, Asif Afridi, Deputy CEO of brap, said:

"Although undoubtedly well-meaning, Harriet Harman’s comments miss the point.

"Men-only leaderships may be a bad thing, but only if they are indicative of unfair and discriminatory recruitment or election processes. Addressing that imbalance can only take us so far though. From our experience of working with public, private and third sector organisations, we know that making decision making processes more ‘representative’ does not necessarily ensure more equitable decisions will be made by elected members.

"We need to recognise that an understanding and appreciation of equality is a skill that has to be developed – it’s not something that automatically comes from being a particular sex. We all know women are just as capable of making unfair decisions as men: after all, many within the Labour party spent years campaigning against the inequitable policies of Margaret Thatcher.

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"Genuine equality means giving people the freedom and opportunity to achieve the things in life they value. Assuming that a woman automatically knows what another woman wants is an outdated, poorly evidenced, and ultimately sexist idea. One of the problems with our traditional approach to equality is that it often reinforces stereotypes when we all know that people’s values and aspirations differ as much within groups as between them.

"The Government has done much to promote equality and fairness in society – the Equality Bill which Harriet Harman is leading on is a good example. But sooner or later there should be an acceptance that traditional approaches to equality that rely on putting people into limited ‘boxes’ of identity (such as ' women', 'men', 'black', 'white', and so on) can only take us so far. A new approach based on the capacity of individuals to express and achieve the kind of life they value has the potential to reinvigorate the equalities agenda. Let’s hope the Government realises this sooner rather than later."

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