Oxfam bans the word ‘headquarters’ over fears it might offend other offices

The word 'implies a power dynamic that prioritises one office over another', new guidelines suggest

The charity has urged staff to avoid using the word following the publication of its Inclusive Language Guide.

It notes that the word should never be used because it “implies a power dynamic that prioritises one office over another", adding that there are "colonial implications" of using the context in which we work that "reinforces hierarchical power issues and a top-down approach”.

Instead, staff should name the specific location, the guide advises.

Elsewhere, the charity, which aims to combat global poverty, cautioned staff against using traditional terms when describing parents.

For example, when using mother and father, it warns employees to “avoid assuming the adoption of gendered roles by transgender parents”.

It says: “If trans parents have a preferred specified gender role, such as ‘mother’ or ‘father’, this should be respected. If unsure, it is more inclusive to use ‘parent’.”

It adds: "The important principle here is to be inclusive in the broader sense by describing people as ‘parents’, but if individual parents have a preference for a role name, to respect their choice."

The 92-page document, which was previously only circulated internally but was published online earlier this week, features chapters on race, power and decolonisation, gender justice, sexual diversity and women’s rights, disability, physical and mental health, migration and feminist principles for language use.

It also features a trigger warning for words and phrases that might be considered “discriminatory” or “that have been used historically to oppress certain people or groups”.

Among the other words that Oxfam has encouraged staff to replace and avoid are: sex worker instead of prostitute, social norms, social beliefs or collective beliefs in place of attitudes or behaviours, humankind in place of mankind and AFAB and AMAB (assigned female/male at birth) instead of biological male and biological female.

It also urges staff to use the terms menstrual products or period products in place of sanitary products or feminine hygiene products because such phrases imply “that periods are in themselves unclean”. 

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