WAGGG’s DEI report

In 2022, WAGGGS contacted me with a somewhat delicate assignment, one regarding systemic racism within the organisation.

Ethically, I wanted to know if it was possible to find a BIPOC translator to do the translation. Because even though I have read extensively on the topic, I am not personally affected by it, so I risked making mistakes. And I am against taking on assignments and money from marginalised people on topics that have to do with them.

They did not have a BIPOC freelance translator who was also able to respect their inclusive language guidelines in French. So I chose to work with a beta reader to ensure that the text corresponded to the way the groups communicated internally.

So I had several meetings with a BIPOC activist to check that my writing didn’t miss any nuances and that I was using current, non-problematic vocabulary.

The aim was to avoid falling into the trap of so-called ‘ordinary’ racism and white saviourism.