The Conservatives have today (3 June) pledged to change the
Equality Act to make clear that the protected characteristic of
sex is ‘biological sex'. The change will make it simpler for
service providers for women and girls, such as those
running sessions for domestic abuse victims, to prevent
biological males from taking part.
More than a decade has passed since the last Labour government
passed the Equality Act. In that time society has changed a lot,
with greater numbers of people identifying as a gender that is
different from their biological sex.
The Act has not kept pace with evolving interpretations and is
not sufficiently clear on when it means sex and when it means
gender. This ambiguity has left single-sex service providers
vulnerable to challenge and legal action, ultimately putting
women and girls' safety at risk.
The law needs to provide protections based on biological sex to
enable rights to be balanced fairly.
We want to ensure single-sex spaces are maintained for women and
girls' dignity, privacy and safety, and that single-sex groups
can freely associate without others of the opposite biological
sex.
Last year the Minister for Women and Equalities, , wrote to the Equality and
Human Rights Commission (EHRC) seeking further guidance on this
issue. In response, the EHRC concluded that it would bring
greater legal clarity for ‘sex' to be defined as biological sex
for the purposes of The Equality Act.
This change to the law will not remove the existing and
continuing protections against discrimination on the basis of
gender reassignment provided by the Equality Act. The sex of
those with a Gender Recognition Certificate will still align with
their acquired gender in law outside the Equality Act, for
example marriage law, as is the status quo.
We are one United Kingdom and it has become apparent that it is
impractical for gender recognition regimes to vary in different
parts of the country. Therefore, we will also establish in law
that gender recognition is a reserved matter. This will mean that
an individual can only have one sex in the eyes of the law in the
United Kingdom.
The debate on these issues has become unnecessarily contentious.
We want to move this on to a more informed and constructive
basis, and our evidence-led approach to the Equality Act is part
of delivering that outcome.
Prime Minister said:
“The safety of women and girls is too important to allow the
current confusion around definitions of sex and gender to
persist.
“The Conservatives believe that making this change in law will
enhance protections in a way that respects the privacy and
dignity of everyone in society.
“We are taking an evidence-led approach to this issue so we can
continue to build a secure future for everyone across the whole
country.”
Minister for Women and Equalities said:
"Whether it is rapists being housed in women's prisons, or
instances of men playing in women's sports where they have an
unfair advantage, it is clear that public authorities and
regulatory bodies are confused about what the law says on sex and
gender and when to act – often for fear of being accused of
transphobia, or not being inclusive.
"That is why we are today pledging that, if we form a government
after the election, we will clarify that sex in the law means
biological sex and not new, redefined meanings of the word.
"The protection of women and girls' spaces is too important to
allow the confusion to continue."ENDS
Notes to Editors
Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch's February 2023
letter to the EHRC can be found here: letter-from-mfwe-clarifying-the-definition-of-sex-for-the-effective-operation-ea-210-21-feb-2023.pdf
(equalityhumanrights.com)
The EHRC's April 2023 letter to Minister for Women and Equalities
can be found
here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/letter-to-mfwe-definition-of-sex-in-ea-210-3-april-2023.pdf
