The Equality Act came into force from October 2010 providing a modern, single legal framework with clear law to better tackle disadvantage and discrimination.
To celebrate 10 years of the Equality Act 2010, measure it’s impact and highlight the continued and diverse challenges posed to individuals and communities that identify under the protected characteristics within the Act, the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Wales and Public Law Wales hosted a free, online event on the 1 October 2020.
The event was facilitated by Legal News Wales.
The event recording, featuring a fantastic and highly engaging series of speakers, is available for catch-up viewing below.
Speakers
The Counsel General for Wales and Minister for European Transition, Jeremy Miles MS, joined the ERHC Wales and Public Law Wales to introduce the event, chaired by David Gardner, No5 Chambers & Public Law Wales.
Five speakers then shared their personal experiences in bringing the Equality Act 2010 to life in legal matters which focused on the following protected characteristics:
- Age & Disability – speaker: Christian J Howells, Barrister, 30 Park Place (profile)
- Gender reassignment, sex & sexual orientation – speaker: Dr S. Chelvan, Barrister, No5 Chambers (profile)
- Marriage & civil partnership & pregnancy & maternity – speaker: Saira Anwar, Employment & Discrimination Caseworker, Bristol Law Centre.
- Race – speaker: Aliya Mohammed, CEO of Race Equality First (profile)
- Religion – speaker: Angharad Price, Principal Legal, EHRC Wales (click for more)
Event recording
(Please note, this is a live recording of the event broadcast on 1 October 2020.)
For a link to the recording of the event ‘A more equal Wales: The Socio Economic Duty in Wales’ event, mentioned by Christian Howells in his presentation, please click here.
A message from the Equality & Human Rights Commission Wales
The nationwide lockdown in response to the Coronavirus crisis has had a significant impact on every area of our society, with normal services and daily routines brought to a standstill or drastically altered. We all have had to adapt and improvise, finding ways to continue to move forward in these unprecedented times.
At the Equality and Human Rights Commission we have also had to adopt some unfamiliar ways of working as the ‘new normality’. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t still operating to uphold equality and human rights legislation. A month into the lockdown we continue to monitor the ever-changing situation in accordance with our unique statutory mandate.
We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to keep a abreast of the emerging national picture. We are particularly focused on how staff are being treated by employers at this unprecedented time. We are also looking at institutions, in particular how our prisons are being managed and how the old, sick and vulnerable are being cared for in care homes and hospitals.
You may recall that we contacted you earlier this year to outline the areas where we are interested in supporting cases or taking action. These haven’t changed. However, we’d like to reiterate that we also want to hear about flagrant, systemic and/or serious breaches of equality or human rights law in relation to COVID-19.
We are here to work with you and your clients where your issues and concerns might align with the work that we are doing to safeguard equality and human rights at this unparalleled time. We are also a Prescribed Body for Whistleblowers who have concerns with their employer’s compliance with equality and human rights legislation and our webpage has links which allow people to raise those issues directly with us: equalityhumanrights.com/en/whistleblowing.
These are challenging times. Much will continue to change for some time yet. However, what will remain constant is our commitment to equality and human rights in the UK. If there are any matters that you would like to refer to us or that would be relevant to our work then you know where we are…
Get in touch
Please get in touch if you come across a case that you think we might be able to get involved with, or an issue that we might be able to help resolve using our range of powers.
If you consider that your case or issue falls within our strategic aims, please contact the legal team by phone or email with basic details and we will give you an indication of whether we might be able to assist: by email: legalrequest@equalityhumanrights.com or by phone: 029 2044 7790.
About the organisers
The EHRC was established in 2007 and hosts information on the Act, guidance and codes of practice on its website, here.
Public Law Wales is the Wales Public Law and Human Rights Association. For further information on its work, please click here.
Hosted in partnership by:
