Latest news with #EqualityAct.The
BBC News
20-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Westminster statues graffitied at London trans protest
Several statues in Parliament Square, including one of women's votes campaigner Dame Millicent Fawcett, were vandalised during a protest on campaigners gathered in front of Parliament to protest against the ruling by the Supreme Court on Wednesday that biological sex defines a woman for the purposes of the Equality Metropolitan Police said seven statues were damaged and they are investigating the incidents as criminal damage. No arrests have been made.A statue of World War One South African leader Jan Smuts was graffitied with the words "trans rights are human rights". The Supreme Court ruled that transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if "proportionate".The judges unanimously ruled that the terms woman and sex in the 2010 Equality Act "refer to a biological woman and biological sex" rather than "certificated sex".Protests against the ruling also took place on Saturday in Reading, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Met said its officers were in the area policing Parliament Square "but did not witness the criminal damage take place as the area was densely populated with thousands of protestors and it was not reported at the time".It confirmed it is investigating the graffiti as criminal damage and no arrests have been made so far. Ch Supt Stuart Bell, who was leading the policing operation for the protest, said: "It is very disappointing to see damage to seven statues and property in the vicinity of the protest today."We support the public's right to protest but criminality like this is completely unacceptable."The statue of Dame Millicent Fawcett by artist Gillian Wearing is the only statue of a woman in Parliament Square, where others honoured include international statesmen like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, and former prime ministers Sir Winston Churchill and David in 2018, it is also the only statue by a female artist in the square, and was erected following a campaign and petition by the feminist activist Caroline Criado Perez.
BBC News
17-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Equalities watchdog to issue new guidelines on gender after ruling
New guidance for public bodies on single-sex spaces will be issued, after the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says it is "working at pace" to provide an updated code of conduct for services, including the NHS and prisons. The ruling could have implications for spaces such as hospital wards, changing rooms and domestic case was brought by women's rights campaigners who challenged the Scottish government, arguing sex-based protections should apply only to people that are born female. Five key takeaways from Supreme Court ruling On Wednesday judges ruled that when the term "woman" is used in the Equality Act it means a biological woman, and "sex" means biological means a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) does not change a person's legal sex for the purposes of the Equality Supreme Court justices argued this was the only consistent, coherent Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the organisation was "pleased" the judgment addressed "difficulties" it highlighted in its submission to the is already Equality Act guidance which allows for women-only spaces, such as toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards in certain under the new ruling a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use a space or service designated as women includes transgender women who have legally changed their gender and hold a equality watchdog says it expects its updated guidance to be in place by the new guidance could also have an impact on women's sport, where the question over whether transgender women can participate has been a high-profile issue in recent have tightened up rules around transgender athletes at the elite levels. Athletics, cycling and aquatics have banned transgender women from taking part in women's sports have put in place eligibility criteria. Earlier this month the English Football Association introduced stricter rules, but still allowed transgender women to continue to compete in the women's game as long as their testosterone was kept below a certain Green MSP Maggie Chapman, a prominent campaigner for trans-rights, said: "This is a deeply concerning ruling for human rights and a huge blow to some of the most marginalised people in our rights campaigners have said they will be examining the judgment closely to decide on their next UK government has welcomed the "clarity and confidence" for women and service providers brought by the minister Karin Smyth said the government would be reviewing the ruling to "make sure we are fully compliant with it" and would be working with equality bodies to make sure organisations were fully said the government was not interested in "so-called culture wars" and believed that everybody should have "their dignity and privacy and their rights respected"."I think now is the time to make sure that we look to the future, that rights are very clear for people and that service providers absolutely make sure they comply with the law," she said.
BBC News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Key takeaways of court ruling on legal definition of woman
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the legal definition of a woman should be based on biological as the dust settles on the ruling, what can we take away from it? Clear ruling Firstly, it provides much greater clarity than many expected. The judges ruled that when the term "woman" is used in the Equality Act it means a biological woman, and "sex" means biological also makes it clear that if a space or service is designated as women-only, a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use that space or Supreme Court justices argued this was the only consistent, coherent interpretation. Public bodies to review evidence Many public bodies will now be reviewing their gender policies, but how much day-to-day change we'll see is going to take time to find is already Equality Act guidance which allows for women-only spaces, such as toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards in certain says this could be for "reasons of privacy, decency, to prevent trauma or to ensure health and safety."So, where organisations want and where appropriate, they can already point to this to justify single-sex cases like that of the nurse, Sandie Peggie, who was suspended after refusing to share a changing room with a transgender doctor, are likely to be Wednesday NHS Fife, the health board involved in the case, told the BBC it noted the clarity provided by the ruling and would "carefully consider the judgment." Implications for sports In sports, there have been particularly heated arguments over whether or not trans women should compete in women's in recent years, many sports have tightened up rules around transgender athletes at the elite levels. Athletics, cycling and aquatics, for example, have banned transgender women from taking part in women's sports have put in place eligibility criteria. Earlier this month the English Football Association introduced stricter rules, but still allowed transgender women to continue to compete in the women's game as long as their testosterone was kept below a certain Wednesday's ruling's straightforward statement that a woman is a biological woman provides a much clearer framework for those debates, and could see rules changed in various sports as a result. GRC certificates The Supreme Court justices emphasised that transgender people already have protections against discrimination and harassment written into the Equality arguments in court centred on whether trans women with gender recognition certificates (GRC) should be treated as women by the Equality Scottish government had argued that sex can be legally changed via the gender recognition process, and a transgender person with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) should have the protections of that group, For Women Scotland, argued that these protections should only apply to people that are born few trans people have GRCs and the judgment concluded if they were treated differently to those who do not have certificates, it would create an unworkable two-tier system of protections for the people in the transgender community now worry GRCs have lost their legal weight and will only serve a symbolic purpose from now on. Next steps Trans rights campaigners have said they will be examining the judgment closely to decide on their next steps. It is possible they could attempt to put pressure on the government to change the Equality Scottish government has also said it will need to work with the UK government to understand the full implications of the while the judgment provides clarity on the law, the jury is still out on its practical impact.
BBC News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
What does the UK Supreme Court definition of a woman ruling mean?
The UK Supreme Court has unanimously and unambiguously backed the argument that the definition of a woman in the Equality Act should be based on biological out the ruling, Lord Hodge cautioned that it should not be taken as a triumph for one group in society over there were scenes of jubilation for women's campaigners outside the Supreme hugs were exchanged and a bottle of champagne was cracked fact someone had thought to bring one along underlines that it was potentially on the cards, but For Women Scotland (FWS) still seemed shocked by the scale of their Scottish government's argument - that sex can be changed via the gender recognition process, and that someone with a gender recognition certificate should have the protections of that sex - were what does it all mean? The application of the law on the ground, in "real life", was clearly foremost in the minds of the the example of single sex spaces and services - part of the motivation for FWS bringing this previous reading of the law was that everything from hospital wards and prison wings to support groups for victims of abuse can exclude everyone but women thanks to exceptions in the Equality concern from campaigners was that if people could change their sex with a certificate, and then claim protection against discrimination as a woman, that could be more particularly the case on a practical level, given those providing these services aren't actually meant to ask to see a gender recognition the court is clear that this exemption can continue; the rules underpinning women-only spaces can exclude people with gender recognition certificates. Does the Equality Act still protect trans people? There are still conditions which need to be satisfied - services will have to show that excluding trans people is a limited and proportionate means to achieving a legitimate bans are discouraged; there is still a bar to FWS are clearly delighted with the underlying principle, and hope it will lead to clearer guidance for those providing important to note that trans people are still protected by the Equality protected characteristic of gender reassignment is not affected by this ruling, and Lord Hodge stressed that there are other defences against direct and indirect discrimination and was clear that trans people are a "vulnerable and often harassed minority", who "struggle against discrimination and prejudice as they seek to live their lives with dignity".But the court has held that it would be problematic to effectively divide trans people between two different protected characteristics, depending on whether they have a judges stressed that this is particularly the case when service providers can't ask to see the say the law needs to be "clear and consistent" - and that including those with a GRC in with women would ultimately be "incoherent".The court carefully weighs the letter of the law, but it's worth remembering that ultimately that law is drafted by politicians - and it can be changed at the stroke of a pen. Will gender reform be relaunched at Holyrood? The issue may now move out of the legal arena and back into the political had been some pressure on the UK government to clarify the definitions of the Equality Act, which is Westminster court has handily done that for them, and UK ministers have welcomed the may be more political pressure on the Scottish government, given it has lost this a long time, ministers have batted away questions about this case - such as, do they really believe in the legal points their lawyers are making? - by saying they can't comment on live will have to go into a little more detail now, but I imagine this is issue still just about the last thing they want to talk had been some speculation that a ruling like this could raise the prospect of ministers re-launching their attempts at gender reform at frankly there is not the political will in the John Swinney administration to ride into battle on this issue, as there was under his predecessor Nicola a Holyrood election looming, there is no prospect of the first minister deciding to wade back into such a contentious with For Women Scotland now hoping to use this ruling to hold his feet to fire when it comes to broader government policies and guidance, it is one he will need to address.
