Gender Equality Duty - closing the gaps

1 March 2007

British workplaces will take another step towards equality when the Gender Equality Duty comes into effect on April 6. The duty requires public service providers and public sector employers to think about the different needs of women and men in their employment and recruitment practices, in policies they develop, and in services they deliver.

The duty also applies to private sector and voluntary organisations when they are working on behalf of a public authority, and public bodies are still bound by it when they contract their services externally to private organisations.

The duty recognises that men and women may require different things from services such as public transport, crime prevention and healthcare, therefore services should be designed to be more accessible and appropriate.

Although sex discrimination was outlawed in Britain in 1975, people still have to take action through the courts to challenge discrimination – and winning a case will not necessarily affect discrimination practiced on anyone else. Adoption of the Gender Equality Duty means people have another tool for challenging discrimination.

The equality duty is similar to Britain’s 2001 Race Equality Duty, which required all public bodies to eliminate racial harassment and promote equality of opportunity for all races.

In December 2006, Britain instituted a Disability Equality Duty.

This year, a new body called the Commission for Equality and Human Rights will be formed to enforce the Gender Equality Duty, the Race Equality Duty and the Disability Equality Duty.

Read about the Gender Equality Duty