The aim of the Equality Act 2010 is to promote a fair and equal society and to protect individuals from unfair discrimination and treatment a in all aspects of everyday life. It also sets a new standard for public service providers who are expected to embed equality issues into all aspects of public service delivery and to treat everyone with dignity and respect.
The Act protects individuals from discrimination on at range of grounds which it refers to as “protected” characteristics. These are:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex and sexual orientation
The Act introduced new measures to protect people from dual discrimination, direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from a disability , harassment and victimisation. People who experience direct discrimination or harassment because they are associated with a person who has a protected characteristic are also now protected under the Act, as are people who are mistakenly believed to have a protected characteristic.
We will advocate for you as a disabled person if need be, or support you to ensure that your rights are protected so that you can access services or obtain reasonable adjustments to assist you to remain in education, or employment or stay at home.
Disabled people ‘left behind in society’, report finds
Watch the report on the BBC website here.
Progress towards equality has been “littered with missed opportunities”, a report says.
Read the report here.
