Job Advertisement Letter of Complaint

07/06/2017

To whom it may concern,

          I am writing to you to let you know that I came across your job advertisement for the Apprentice Digital Video Production Producer role posted on the 12/02/2015. I have read some concerning aspects of your job advertisement and I would like to address them in the letter. I would also like to mention that the contract goes against the confidentiality clauses.  The job application says that you have to be Male/Female (Aged below 30) this infringes The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 this legislation quotes that “legislation in the United Kingdom, which prohibits employers unreasonably discriminating against employees on grounds of age” (Wikipedia). You have also stated that the candidate has to have a religious belief of Christianity; this can offend people from other religious backgrounds. In the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003 quotes that “United Kingdom labour law designed to combat discrimination in relation to people's religion or belief, or absence of religion or belief” (Wikipedia)

The job role description/brief discusses how the candidate will be recording a short documentary interviewing male rape offenders and female victims about a No Means No date rape campaign, which is for 12-16 year olds for a viewing in a high school. This is inappropriate for their age range. In your job description, it states that I will have to interview female victims and male offenders, this could happen to males or female so stating the stereotypical gender roles is sexist. The Job description also states that I will have to make dramatized re-enactments of the topic. This is going against health and safety rules, as while you do not employ me the trade unions do not protect me against things like these so allowing me to film such a graphic topic is outrageous.

While making this documentary you did not specify what code of practise you use and how I should behave during filming for the task. This could possibly lead some other applicants in a different direction as it may seem like they can react or behave however, they want, this could get some of them arrested. You do not have the appropriate policies and procedures as you demand to re-enact a rape scene and show this to children aged 12-16.  For the documentary, you did not specify how the victims and the offenders should look and how they should act. By you stating that in the documentary, it should include female victims and male offenders, this tells me that in the video, mostly all males are sex offenders and that most victims are females. This shows a representation that is quite stereotypical and sexist, which can offend both genders. As showing this video to children aged 12-16, it would give them a bad representation that mostly males are sex offenders and that victims are only females, this will make the male students think that all males have to act that way and that females are weak and vulnerable. The media portrays male sex offenders as older men (for example Jimmy Savile), this tells the audience that male offenders are mostly elderly and showing this to students aged 12-16, they would get the wrong idea that their grandads are sex offenders.

The Ofcom broadcasting code sets standards, which protects the viewers from harmful and offensive content. Your documentary you want the applicants to make for 12-16 year olds goes strongly against this as you will be showing dramatized re-enactments of rape, this could mentally harm them because of their age. 18 age rated movies are the only movies that could have a rape scene in them because it is for adults’ eyes only as it could scar the younger generation. In the Obscene Publication Act 1959, it quotes “Prior to the passage of the Act, the law on publishing obscene materials was governed by the common law case of R v Hicklin, which had no exceptions for artistic merit or the public good” (Wikipedia). It also states in the title that it is An Act to amend the law relating to the publication of obscene matter; to provide for the protection of literature; and to strengthen the law concerning pornography. This means that with your job application advert and the documentary the applicants have to make, it is proof that what they are making and showing 12-16 year olds is illegal, as the documentary would be classed as pornography.

Yours Sincerely,

Tia-Jade Webber