'Sex' as biological and the impacts on the women's sector

The recent Supreme Court ruling on how sex should be defined under the Equality Act has, unsurprisingly, created a media storm. There has been a lot of talk and fear of compulsory trans exclusion, which may be alarming to those women's organisations that are trans inclusive. WRC's members form a broad range of women's organisations operating with different policies and definitions of what a 'woman' is in terms of their own women-only service provision. This ruling won't mean that women's organisations can no longer be trans-inclusive. It does, however, mean that women's organisations must be extremely clear about who they are delivering services to. 

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To be simply 'women-only' or 'single-sex' (which is still permissible as a proportionate and legitimate aim under the single-sex exemption) will now mean you are delivering services for biological women only. 

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If you are trans-inclusive, you would need to state that specifically. You would not be able to call yourself a 'single-sex' or 'simply a 'women-only' one. 

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Women's organisations retain the autonomy to define who they are supporting. However, organisations should review their policies to ensure they align with the current legal framework. To help with this, WRC is hosting a free and invaluable online session with an equality law expert on June 12^th - register here!