by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AVON is joining the global community in celebrating Pride Month.
It is marked in June to amplify the voice of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more (LGBTQIA+) community and to support the rights of the queer society.
Avon will be heightening awareness about its Equity & Inclusion Position, which provides a safe space to marginalized and underrepresented team members by ensuring that they are accepted, supported and championed at work.
“We believe that whoever you are, wherever you live and whoever you love, you should all be treated equally,” said Mafahle Mareletse, Managing Director of Avon Justine Turkey, Middle East and Africa.
He said Avon was open for all championed self-expression for beauty, and that is for the company’s customers, representatives and associates.
“To that end, I am honoured to raise the Pride flag which proudly declares that we see you, we hear you, we support you, we celebrate the uniqueness of our LGBTQIA+ siblings; they are indeed at home here,” Mareletse said.
In addition to raising the Pride flag, Avon will be hosting a panel discussion on 15 June to heighten awareness about discrimination faced by the LGBTQIA+ community and reiterate its support for communities that face discrimination.
Mareletse said despite the enactment of a constitution that protects gay and lesbian rights, the LGBTQIA+ community has been at the receiving end of wanton discrimination and bigotry, homophobic violence, so-called corrective rape and high rates of HIV/AIDS infection.
“We are acutely cognisant of the challenges that members of the LGBTQIA+ face daily, particularly those residing in townships and rural outskirts, hence we rally around any initiative aimed at fostering tolerance.”
The executive reiterated that inclusivity is part of Avon brand DNA and that shows through product diversity.
The brand ethos – Embrace Your Power- is seen as a further expression of that commitment.
“We continually nurture a psychologically safe environment for our employees, rewarding vulnerability and generating cultures of belonging,” Mareletse concluded.
– CAJ News