Avon to join global community in celebration of Pride Month

Each year, the global community commemorates Pride Month to amplify the voice of the LGBTQIA+ community and to support the rights of the queer society. As a brand that is open to all, Avon will be marking this day across its global footprint as an expression to its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

To demonstrate our solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, 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. This implores us to be open to all, adopt a zero tolerance for harassment or discrimination, honour all family structures and relationships and be a strong ally to underrepresented groups.

These principles supersede all laws in our country, these principles also supersede all local policies that undermine our position.

“We believe that whoever you are, wherever you live and whoever you love, you should all be treated equally. At Avon, we are open for all and we champion self-expression for beauty and that is for our customers, Reps and Associates too. 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,” says Mafahle Mareletse, Managing Director of Avon Justine Turkey, Middle East & Africa.

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.

“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.

Inclusivity is part of our brand DNA and that shows through product diversity. Our new brand ethos - Embrace Your Power, is a further expression of that commitment. We continually nurture a psychologically safe environment for our employees, rewarding vulnerability and generating cultures of belonging,” Mareletse concludes.