Hi @ehrc @EHRCChair @RJHilsenrath @CQCpressoffice @DevonCC

Your joint webinar on Wednesday 2/9/20 “Ensuring your coronavirus response is inclusive of all” on the Public Sector Equality Duty was interesting.

However, I have some points I would like to raise with you all.

1/19

In the webinar, the @EHRC’s Claire Lesko listed the protected characteristics (PC) under the Equality Act 2010 and stated that "sex or gender" was a protected characteristic.

2/19

As you are aware, 'gender' is not a PC under the Act, is not defined in the Act and ‘gender’ is not a synonym for sex.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/part/2/chapter/1

3/19

The @CQCpressoffice‘s COVID-19 Regulatory Response Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was mentioned in the webinar:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20200526_coronavirus_regulatory_response_eia.pdf

4/19

It lists ‘Gender’, and not sex, as a PC:

5/19

The Monitoring Information section of the @CQCpressoffice’s job application gives a partial list of the protected characteristics but includes ‘gender identity or expression’, which is not a PC, but doesn’t include sex.

6/19

It then asks, under the heading ‘Compliance questions’, for the ‘Gender’ of the applicant with the options ‘Female’, ‘Male’, ‘Non binary’, and ‘Prefer to self describe’.

'Gender' is not a protected characteristic under the Act and is not defined in the Act.

7/19

Sex is the protected characteristic and the only two possible options for sex are 'Female' and 'Male' as defined in the Act and consistent with biology and there is no way to self-describe one's sex.

8/19

‘Non binary’ is not a sex, it is not a protected characteristic under the Act and is not defined in the Act.

9/19

. @DevonCC’s Equality Policy - Equality and Diversity discusses their Public Sector Equality Duty (the subject of the webinar) and lists the PCs under the Act but includes “sex/gender identity”. This is not the PC.

https://www.devon.gov.uk/equality/policy-and-legislation/equality-policy

10/19

. @DevonCC’s “Diversity Guide - Sex and Gender - Equality and Diversity” defines that under the Equality Act 2010, the PC of sex:

https://www.devon.gov.uk/equality/communities/diversity/guide/gender

11/19

And adds:

12/19

It is difficult to know where to start with this but I hope the problems, errors, misrepresentations, medical ignorance and insulting language in these would be obvious.

13/19

For example, intersex is not a 'gender identity' and those with a Difference of Sex Development are still considered to be male or female. It is generally considered derogatory to those with DSDs to consider them not to be male or female.

14/19

Neither sex nor 'gender' is 'assigned' at birth: sex is observed and recorded and is immutable.

15/19

Language and meaning of words are important and proper use & understanding of terms is vital so that the public is aware of what rights they have and what your duties are. Any confusion or inconsistency over meaning may prevent people from accessing their rights in law.

16/19

This look at a small sample of information provided by yourselves highlights many problems with the information on the Act you provide to the public.

It also must raise doubts about your ability to meet the responsibilities of your PSED, the subject of your webinar.

17/19

I’m sure you will agree that this is disappointing and falls far short of the standards that the public expects not only of public authorities but also by the body that is supposed to understand the Act and issue guidance on it to others.

18/19

Will you undertake to correct these errors and to review all your other policies, documents, reports, etc to ensure compliance and will the @ehrc commit to publishing robust and correct guidance?

Please respond.

19/19

@threadreaderapp unroll