What is sex discrimination? Sex Discrimination is when you're treated differently because of your sex, in certain situations covered by the Equality Act 2010.
The treatment could be a one-off action or could be caused by a rule or policy. It doesn’t have to be intentional to be unlawful There are some circumstances when being treated differently due to sex is lawful, these are explained at the bottom of this post.
What the Equality Act says about sex discrimination: The Equality Act 2010 says you must not be discriminated against because you are (or are not) a particular sex or that someone thinks you are the opposite sex (this is known as discrimination by perception) or that you are connected to someone of a particular sex (this is known as discrimination by association).
In the Equality Act, sex can mean either male or female, or a group of people like men or boys, or women or girls.
Different types of sex discrimination There are four main types of sex discrimination:
1. Direct discrimination: This happens when, because of your sex, someone treats you worse than someone of the opposite sex who is in a similar situation. For example a nightclub offers free entry to women but charges men to get in.
2. Indirect discrimination: Indirect discrimination happens when an organisation has a particular policy or way of working that applies in the same way to both sexes but which puts you at a disadvantage because of your sex. For example an employer decides to change shift patterns for staff so that they finish at 5pm instead of 3pm. Female employees with primary caring responsibilities could be at a disadvantage if the new shift pattern means they cannot collect their children from school or childcare. Indirect sex discrimination can be permitted if the organisation or employer is able to show that there is a good reason for the policy. This is known as objective justification.
3. Harassment: There are three types of harassment relating to sex: The first type of harassment is the same for all of the protected characteristics. It is when someone makes you feel humiliated, offended or degraded The second type of harassment is called sexual harassment. This is when someone makes you feel humiliated, offended or degraded because they treat you in a sexual way. This is known as 'unwanted conduct of a sexual nature' and covers verbal and physical treatment, like sexual comments or jokes, touching, or assault. It also covers sending emails of a sexual nature, or putting up pornographic pictures The third type of harassment is when someone treats you unfairly because you refused to put up with sexual harassment. For example a manager or supervisor invites one of his female employees home after they have been out for a drink. She declines. A couple of weeks later she is turned down for a promotion. She believes this is because she turned down the proposition. It can also cover unfair treatment even if you had previously accepted sexual conduct. For example the employee above did have a brief relationship with her manager or supervisor and after it ended, she applied for a promotion but was turned down. She believes this is because the relationship with her manager had ended.
Harassment can never be justified. However, if an organisation or employer can show it did everything it could to prevent people who work for it from behaving like that, you will not be able to make a claim for harassment against it, although you could make a claim against the harasser.
4. Victimisation: This is when you are treated badly because you have made a complaint of sex related discrimination under the Equality Act. It can also occur if you are supporting someone who has made a complaint of sex discrimination. For example a male colleague is helping a female co-worker with their claim of sex discrimination and makes a statement at an Employment Tribunal. The male colleague is then sacked or treated badly by their employer. This is victimisation because of sex.
Circumstances when being treated differently due to sex is lawful: The Equality Act has some exceptions that allow employers or organisations to discriminate because of your sex. A difference in treatment may be lawful if (1) Being a particular sex is essential for a job. This is called an occupational requirement. This includes some jobs which require someone of a particular sex for reasons of privacy and decency or where personal services are provided. For example, a gym could employ a changing room attendant that is the same sex as the users of that room, or (2) An organisation is taking positive action. Positive action might be used to encourage or develop people of a sex that is under-represented or disadvantaged in a role or activity. For example, an engineering firm places a job advert for a trainee engineer stating that applications from women are welcome.
Other notable exceptions include: The armed forces can refuse to employ a woman, or limit her access to training or promotion if it means they can ensure the combat effectiveness of the armed forces In competitive sports the organisers can hold separate events for men and women because the differences in stamina, strength and physique would otherwise make the competition unfair.
There are several situations in which an organisation can lawfully provide single sex services. In all circumstances they must be able to justify it. For example offering a women-only support service to victims of domestic violence who are women is likely to be justifiable even if there is no parallel service for men due to insufficient demand.