Gender Equality Duty

The gender equality duty is a new legal requirement on all public authorities, when carrying out all their functions, to have due regard to the need: 

• To eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex

• To promote equality of opportunity between women and men.

Functions include policy-making, service provision, employment matters, and statutory discretion, as well as decision-making.  ‘Due regard’ means that authorities should give due weight to the need to promote gender equality in proportion to its relevance. 

The duty requires organisations to take action on the most important gender equality issues within their functions. The promotion of equal opportunities between women and men requires public authorities to recognise that the two groups are not starting from an equal footing and identical treatment will not always be appropriate.

The duty is made up of two elements, the ‘general’ duty and the ‘specific’ duties. The general duty is the overall duty to eliminate discrimination and harassment and to promote equality. 

The specific duties are not an objective in themselves, but a means of meeting the general duty.  The specific duties for England, Scotland and Wales are different.  Full details of the legal requirements of the duty are set out in the statutory Code of Practice for England and Wales and the separate Code for Scotland. 

For further details see here.