Hi @rightsofwomen @EHRC @EHRCChair @KishwerFalkner @RJHilsenrath @trussliz @GEOgovuk

Your Equal opportunities monitoring form asks "How would you describe your gender?" with ...

https://rightsofwomen.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Equal-Opportunities-Monitoring-Form-for-all-volunteer-roles.docx

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... with options

Female
Male
Non-binary
Unsure/questioning
Intersex
Prefer to self-describe.

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'Gender' is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and is not defined in the Act.

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

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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 - 'non-binary, 'intersex, 'self describe' and 'other' are not valid options.

'Gender' is not a synonym for sex.

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

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You then ask "Do you identify as trans?" and say "A person is trans if they choose to live in a gender that is different to the one assigned at birth. This may or may not involve undergoing gender reassignment surgery."

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'Trans' is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and is not defined in the Act.

There is a protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment', but the definition you use here does not correspond to the Act.

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'Gender' at birth is a meaningless concept and 'gender' is not 'assigned' at birth: sex is observed and recorded and is immutable.

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Asking about a personal characteristic such as 'gender' that is not a protected characteristic under the Act, may be in breach of the GDPR by processing personal - and potentially Special Category - data without a lawful basis.

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If you choose not to gather data on specific protected characteristics (such as sex), you cannot have the information required to ascertain whether or not you could be discriminating on protected characteristics in recruitment. This could be vital in an employment tribunal

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If you choose to discriminate on characteristics (such as 'gender') that are not protected characteristics under the Act, you may inadvertently indirectly discriminate on protected grounds.

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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.

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Will you undertake to correct these errors and to review all your other policies, documents, reports, etc to ensure compliance?

Please respond.

https://www.sexnotgender.info/list 

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