As part of our intro blogs for Eroticon 2018 speakers, today we’re chatting to RM Girl! RM Girl has spent a decade in the Information and Records Management industry with extensive public sector experience, and has been delving into the discussion of what the new General Data Protection Regulation will have on the transgender community and what this means for organisational records. She is a documented author having assisted NHS Digital write their NHS Code of Practice for Recordkeeping but also assisted with Recordkeeping for Transgender Patients. She has a keen interest on what it means for the LBGT+ community to come up against legislation and record keeping standards combined with how the community and their allies can push organisations to do better and become much more open minded.
1. What inspired you to start working in your field?
It was a complete accident. I was working as a glorified filing girl / overpaid business support assistant who was basically spending 7.5 hours a day, running around after other council workers who could file or fax their own requests. I’d pick the faxes up from each office 6 times a day, and would return to the filing room, faxing them out and filing them away. I hate it. I got to the point where I started to cry about going into work as it made my back hurt and I started looked for new jobs.
I found the job ‘Records Management Officer’ on the internal bulletin and I sent my mum an email that said ‘What do you think to this? If it includes filing, they can sod off’ – My mum advised me to ring and find out more information, 10 years on and I haven’t done any filing since. I help other people work out how they look after their information.
2. If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring sex bloggers/podcasters/writers/erotic creative types, what would it be?
Never stop speaking out. Change doesn’t happen quickly or easily, be the voice that everyone is trying to block out, be it together. You may feel like just one voice, but as a collective, it’s a powerful skill. I’ve spent years metaphorically standing on people’s toes, making it uncomfortable, being different and it’s had many benefits.
3. The way we talk about sex and relationships has changed a lot over the last decade – what changes do you hope to see in the next 10 years?
I want to be in a room where people automatically accept that there isn’t a binary sex, that when people start designing systems they instil privacy first before anything else. I want LGBTQ+ people to feel comfortable about going to receive help from health services because the systems are set up for looking after them appropriately and that they are safe from any harm or judgement. I want sex workers to receive the same treatment as anyone else and no special measures put in place for anyone regardless of their race, job, sexuality or other life choices. I might be asking for a lot, but a girl can dream.
RM Girl’s Eroticon talk
Record keeping in a gender fluid world
With the incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018 and the ‘right to be forgotten’ is it as easy for an organisation to forget who you are based your past ? and how can an organisation clinically understand and meet your needs as we move forward with gender fluid world ahead of us. Are systems equipped to deal with this? What guidance is available to organisations? Would you risk your health in order for you to be forgotten? RMGirl explores the requirements of the updated law (updated from Data Protection Act 1998) and also explores the options that an organisation can undergo in order to meet a patients needs in the current climate and future.
Come along to RM Girl’s talk at Eroticon 2018, and see all the Eroticon 2018 speakers on this page.
