| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you ever turn down translation jobs for moral/ethical reasons? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you ever turn down translation jobs for moral/ethical reasons?".
This poll was originally submitted by Adam Benneter. View the poll results »
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We've had this discussion several times before.
I've never been in a situation in which I felt that I had to turn down a job for ethical reasons. I can't imagine what that would be. A shipment of poison gas to Syria? I'll be interested to see the examples that others have to offer here.
| | | | Ana Vozone 
Local time: 05:05
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Monsanto is a no-no | Dec 8, 2018 |
I am regularly offered work for Monsanto, I always excuse myself...
| | | | Jan Truper
Germany
Local time: 06:05
Member (2016)
English to German
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
I'll be interested to see the examples that others have to offer here.
Monsanto, Big Oil companies, cigarette manufacturers, weapons manufacturers, religious entities, airlines, cruise lines, pyramid scheme operators, etc., etc.
These are my personal choices; I don't judge anybody who is working for such clients.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 06:05
French to English
I turn down any work that involves cruelty. Most recently I refused to translate a text about fishing. They call it "no kill" but the fish are still tormented and often injured.
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As I said several times before, I try to leave my causes, my biases, my likes and dislikes and my morality at a good distance from my translation desk, but for me it is a question of comfort level — if you are not comfortable working on a project, you are certainly not going to be able to turn out your best work. I would refuse jobs, and I have in the past, on gambling, obscene or pornographic material, military weapons, racism, tobacco products… I haven’t been on that situation for a long... See more As I said several times before, I try to leave my causes, my biases, my likes and dislikes and my morality at a good distance from my translation desk, but for me it is a question of comfort level — if you are not comfortable working on a project, you are certainly not going to be able to turn out your best work. I would refuse jobs, and I have in the past, on gambling, obscene or pornographic material, military weapons, racism, tobacco products… I haven’t been on that situation for a long while, but at the very beginning I was contacted to translate a catalogue of pornographic material.
On the same subject:
http://www.proz.com/polls/archived?poll_id_link=8900
http://www.proz.com/polls/archived?poll_id_link=8948
http://www.proz.com/polls/archived?poll_id_link=11773
https://www.proz.com/forum/poll_discussion/262717-poll_would_you_refuse_to_work_on_a_project_for_moral_or_ethical_reasons.html
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| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 06:05
Czech to French
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Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
We've had this discussion several times before.
I've never been in a situation in which I felt that I had to turn down a job for ethical reasons. I can't imagine what that would be. A shipment of poison gas to Syria? I'll be interested to see the examples that others have to offer here.
Even without having such strict standards as Ana. Although not lately, I now mostly work for stable clients. Exemples include: a book about "self improvement" (fraud to get money off people), gaming (I mean a company operating casinos, not online games), an underage beauty contest, dubbing porno movies, and yes, cigarette companies, now somebody mentioned it... Examples I accepted but 1) should have refused (if I had known what it would be about...), or 2) others may have refused, or 3) I would have refused later in my career (with more experience and less desperate to get a job) include: a press release by the North-Corean embassy, a website selling sex toys (although this was fun, and a suprisingly difficult subject), a meeting where illegal financial deals were discussed, another meeting where a chemical company's strategies against environmental organizations were discussed... I actually did work for a gaming company later, but it was just lease agreements.
I haven't been asked, but I would not work for most politicians of my country. Enough examples, Muriel?
[Edited at 2018-12-08 09:42 GMT]
[Edited at 2018-12-08 09:43 GMT]
| | | | Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 06:05
English to German
| I haven't been in that situation | Dec 8, 2018 |
As some of you have mentioned sexual content: I did once help out and translate a marketing-type survey about a "personal lubricant". That didn't feel like a moral issue to me because the text made it clear that the product was meant to be used by people who actually wanted to use it. I wouldn't mind doing the topic again - as a card-holding AVEN member, I have the specific type of asexual humor that perceives all things sexual as an irresistibly funny foreign language. But I guess I'm just too ... See more As some of you have mentioned sexual content: I did once help out and translate a marketing-type survey about a "personal lubricant". That didn't feel like a moral issue to me because the text made it clear that the product was meant to be used by people who actually wanted to use it. I wouldn't mind doing the topic again - as a card-holding AVEN member, I have the specific type of asexual humor that perceives all things sexual as an irresistibly funny foreign language. But I guess I'm just too expensive for non-IT content.
A colleague once sent me a text and asked me what I thought of it. As a small-rodent specialist (yes, all my hobbies are weird), I told her it was lab equipment, not cages for a comfortable rat or mouse life. She had suspected as much and ended up turning down the job. ▲ Collapse
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Rita Utt
France
Local time: 06:05
English to German
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| No translations for sects, cults | Dec 8, 2018 |
and religious orientations I don't approuve of
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 01:05
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| Recurring question | Dec 8, 2018 |
It's the third time I answer this question in the polls, and my answer is still the same.
A doctor or dentist cannot choose what patients they'll assist.
A lawyer does not choose what kind of client they'll accept.
A mechant does not choose who they'll sell to or not.
If you want to be professional, you don't refuse jobs for moral/ethical reasons, unless your client deals with child pron, drug dealling, organized crime, and the like.
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We all have personal choices and preferences. For me it depends on the contents. I am totally and absolutely sure I will NEVER translate a racist text from a racist individual or organization.
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| NO damage-dealers imposing their truthiness | Dec 8, 2018 |
I can tolerate very different and contrary opinions--be it "alternative" medicine pseudo/treatments, religions, homosexual essays, human researches, interpretations, slavery, lifestyle, money traps/pyramids, homicide/aborts, and so on. However, I stop/reject such when it comes to aggressive propaganda which potentially can badly harm people
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| don't agree with Mario | Dec 8, 2018 |
We are not doctors. If I would like to become a doctor and take care of everybody, I would do it. But I work as a freelancer. Why? Because I want my liberty and independence, in all meanings.
Also, not any other professionals accept for healthcare providers are obliged to work for everyone. Lawyers definitely do choose their clients. As do any other freelancers. Even HCPs may refuse/reject the patient if the patient swear, or behave foul which also is unethical (there is at least such a r... See more We are not doctors. If I would like to become a doctor and take care of everybody, I would do it. But I work as a freelancer. Why? Because I want my liberty and independence, in all meanings.
Also, not any other professionals accept for healthcare providers are obliged to work for everyone. Lawyers definitely do choose their clients. As do any other freelancers. Even HCPs may refuse/reject the patient if the patient swear, or behave foul which also is unethical (there is at least such a rule in my country, so in some cases even they do not have to).
I would never work for gambling and dating sites but I am a medical translator so I also do not translate ,say, about architecture, religion, fashion, or martial arts and tones of other domains...and I am totally professional.
I know fellow translators who do not translate for Turkish asylum seekers who blame Turkish Republic on no grounds. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Julio Madrid
Mexico
Local time: 21:05
Member (2018)
English to Spanish
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| The beauty of capitalism | Dec 8, 2018 |
I've read some interesting comments and perspectives and that shows the beauty of the freedom freelancers have. And though this may be a question we've answered before, we are an evolving and growing community and I am sure many members are seeing this question for the first time today. I believe being professional doesn't mean we have to accept all clients as medical doctors must do when it is about life or death. Merchants do decide who they sell to, lawyers do choose what kind of clients they... See more I've read some interesting comments and perspectives and that shows the beauty of the freedom freelancers have. And though this may be a question we've answered before, we are an evolving and growing community and I am sure many members are seeing this question for the first time today. I believe being professional doesn't mean we have to accept all clients as medical doctors must do when it is about life or death. Merchants do decide who they sell to, lawyers do choose what kind of clients they accept. I think a moral compass is not the same as an ethical compass. I work with Muslim, Christian and Jewish people and companies regardless of my own beliefs or faith the same way I decide not to work with perfectly legal businesses that do destroy families like gambling companies and alcohol empires. Many would argue that Monsanto saves lives as others would argue sex toys save marriages. In the end, as Teresa said, it's about being comfortable with what you do for what you find perfectly comfortable may well be completely unsettling for someone else. Isn't that the beauty of capitalism and democracy attached to freedom? That as the same way we set our own rates and conditions someone else may set and decide their own for in the end, we are in a capitalist free market of supply and demand. Ethics, moral principles and legality are not the same and they don't necessarily agree with each other. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I'd refuse, had I known | Dec 8, 2018 |
A few years ago I was involved in a marketing translation for product descriptions, but suddenly things started becoming more and more odd as we entered the world of adult toys.
Once I accept a project, I go with it until the very end, so I made a few adaptations that I thought were reasonable, with the safety of the user being my top priority. Instead of leaving vage and exaggerated possibilities of usage, I specified it (for example "drink" oder "drinkable liquid" instead of "any... See more A few years ago I was involved in a marketing translation for product descriptions, but suddenly things started becoming more and more odd as we entered the world of adult toys.
Once I accept a project, I go with it until the very end, so I made a few adaptations that I thought were reasonable, with the safety of the user being my top priority. Instead of leaving vage and exaggerated possibilities of usage, I specified it (for example "drink" oder "drinkable liquid" instead of "any liquid, up to your imagination").
I also did that with other product descriptions that were too exaggerated and would mislead the client by making more realistic promises than the source had originally suggested, putting myself in the shoes of the client who would buy this product because of my translation -> ethical decisions all the time! ▲ Collapse
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