In this blog, Frances Hamilton, Associate Professor in the School of Law, provides a further update on the LGBTQ+ International Travel for Work Policy Development Tool that she co-created with Tahlia-Rose Virdee. Here, she analyses how the tool is being used and summarises the findings of 60 interviews completed with LGBTQ+ staff nationwide.
This blog post is part of a series. Read part one and part two.
Many businesses and universities have established offices or campuses abroad as part of their globalisation strategies. This has economic benefits for the organisations, but also advantages staff who may gain positive personal or career experiences by moving abroad.
However, many LGBTQ+ individuals feel unwilling or unable to avail themselves of these opportunities, as they may face challenges to their welfare and safety due to varying legal and cultural landscapes when travelling. Over sixty countries around the world retain criminal sanctions concerning sex between men. Others criminalise lesbianism, do not protect LGBTQ+ persons against discrimination, or recognise same-sex marriage, civil partnership or child custody rights. Nor do they sufficiently protect transgender people, who may be targeted through laws prohibiting ‘cross-dressing’ and ‘disguise’ offences.
It is clear then that freedom of travel does not exist for many LQBTQ+ people. Despite this issue, my research from 2021 demonstrated that only 17% of universities had policies expressly addressing LGBTQ+ welfare in international travel. To fill this crucial void in safeguarding, Tahlia-Rose Virdee and I created the freely available and accessible LGBTQ+ International Travel Tool. Launched on 12th September 2023, the free-to-access tool allows businesses, universities and individuals to check and develop their policy concerning LGBTQ+ international travel.
Impact to date
We were delighted to receive the University of Reading 2024 Research Award in the Research Impact category for producing this tool. Over 100 users from a range of universities, businesses and interested individuals are now registered as users of the tool. It has been listed as a recommended resource by the International Trade Centre and LGBTQ+ representative organisations such as PRIDE in STEM. The tool has received positive endorsements from organisations who promote excellence in Higher Education, such as in Advance HE and the Department of Education, as well as those who represent LGBTQ+ staff, such as the University and College Union.
Evaluation of the tool’s use
Through University of Reading impact funding, research assistant Eleanor Benford and I designed a questionnaire to evaluate user experience with the LGBTQ+ travel tool and how it has been used to inform policy and practice. Combined with feedback left on the LGBTQ+ travel tool, this enabled us to evaluate responses from over 100 users.
Positive evaluation from users included ease of access of the tool. Several respondents explained how the tool was easy to use and clearly written, asking sensible questions to the user throughout the process. Users also found the travel tool useful to evaluate gaps in their current policy, which for some organisations was non-existent or for others resulted in more targeted improvement. Respondents listed positive uses to include ”after travel: LGBTQ+ provisions”; ”debrief opportunities for staff”, “buddying up with someone with experience, informed expectations before trip, emergency contacts, etc.” and the need for “formal policy outlining pre/during/post travel support for individuals, and better design of risk assessments”. The most common theme surrounding future use of the tool was how it would be used to shape and change future policies.
Findings from interviews
Throughout this research, people have repeatedly asked us whether LGBTQ+ international travel is an issue in practice. A pilot level study (funded by the University of Reading Impact fund) conducted in 2022 interviewed 15 LGBTQ+ academics about their experience of international academic mobility. Interviewees expounded a palpable fear of travelling to certain jurisdictions, yet 11 of the 15 felt international travel was beneficial for their career. This affected the interviewees’ abilities to carry out their work.
Since then, funding from the Society of Legal Studies has allowed me (together with research assistants Radhika Goel and Katerina Hadjistavri) to carry out a full comprehensive study. This involved interviewing a further 45 academics who identify as LGBTQ+ about their experience of international travel.
In my analysis, I carefully consider each of the elements within the LGBTQ+ acronym (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer/questioning, with the “+” indicating the wide range of other sexualities and gender identities) who each face separate challenges. I also consider intersectional factors, including gender, ethnicity, seniority, geographical location and social class as self-identified by the interviewees. This is important as intersectional characteristics may exacerbate or compound (or potentially ameliorate) LGBTQ+ persons’ experiences. Publication is currently being sought for full analysis.