If there were any doubts about cultural briefings being necessary for travellers, Pearson highlights some key challenges that female travellers especially may face; “these might range from attitudes to dress all the way up to whether women are actually permitted to hold one on one meetings with a male counterpart. 25% of women have suffered a negative incident when travelling on business, half of those incidents were related to sexual harassment or assault. Then of course there are specific medical issues, including pregnancy and the risk of Zika for instance”.
Regardless of the vulnerable group in question, there is a strong case for communication across the board: “People who aren’t LGBTQ+ or women need to be made aware, because they might be travelling with someone who is [vulnerable]. Companies should make everybody aware of the difficulties of going somewhere that may carry risk, so that they don’t accidentally put someone into a position that causes issues,” says Caroline Paige who, in 1999, became the first transgender officer to serve openly in the British Armed Forces. She continues to volunteer her story publicly as a positive role model to raise awareness and inspire others.
In addition, according to Drum Cussac’s paper Vulnerable Business Travellers, “The reputational impact of not protecting your organisation’s vulnerable travellers can have long-term impacts, especially in an age when digital media prevents any story from ever truly disappearing. Consumers can be turned off by perceived attitudes of discrimination and vote with their feet, impacting profits. Likewise, supplier and supply chain partners may feel an impact through association and cut ties to cover themselves.”
Jonathan Bond of Pinsent Masons says ‘“There are some countries in which we do business where it is illegal to be LGBTQ+ and legal to discriminate. We work with our minority groups to ensure they have the information to hand they need if considering work in one of those countries, such as Dubai. We provide information from Ilgar, Stonewall and from International SOS’.