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

The Equal Opportunities Form in your job application correctly has sex in a list of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

However...

1/13

However, you then ask for the 'gender' of the applicant with options:

Male
Female
Unknown
Undisclosed
Others
Prefer not to say.

2/13
'Gender' is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and is not defined in the Act.

https://t.co/qisFhCiV1u

3/13
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 - your other terms are not valid or incoherent.

https://t.co/CEJ0gkr6nF

'Gender' is not a synonym for sex.

4/13
You then ask "Is your gender the one you were assigned at birth?"

'Gender' is not 'assigned' at birth: sex is observed and recorded and is immutable.

'Gender' relies on demeaning, regressive stereotypical notions of societal roles for the two sexes.

5/13
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.

6/13
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.

7/13
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.

8/13
Given these errors and your use of incorrect terms, it's not clear how you can meet your Public Sector Equality Duty or how you have met it in the past given your data could have been corrupted by those who didn't provide their sex.

9/13
Nor is it clear how you can have had due regard to the other duties given the data you have collected.

10/13
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.

11/13
You might also want to look at the options you provide for the question on the sexual orientation of the applicant:

Towards people of a different sex
Towards men of the same sex
Towards women of the same sex
Towards people of both sexes

12/13
Will you undertake to correct these errors and to review all your other policies, documents, reports, etc to ensure compliance?

Please respond.

https://t.co/RJAWJ1vJ6s

13/13
@threadreaderapp unroll

More from sexnotgender.info

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

The equal opportunities section in your job application asks for the 'gender' of the applicant with options:

Female (including trans female)
Male (including trans male)
Non-binary
Other.

1/12


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

https://t.co/qisFhCiV1u

2/12


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, but you don't ask for that. 'Other' is not a valid option.

https://t.co/CEJ0gkr6nF

'Gender' is not a synonym for sex.

3/12


'trans female', 'trans male' and 'Non-binary' are also not valid options are not used or defined in the Act.

4/12

You then ask "Is your gender the same as the gender you were assigned at birth?"

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

5/12
Hi @UHSFT @uhs_jobs @EHRC @EHRCChair @KishwerFalkner @RJHilsenrath @trussliz @GEOgovuk

The Equal opportunities section of your job application mentions the Equality Act 2010 four times and lists sex as a protected characteristic twice.

However...

1/11


However, you then ask for the 'gender' of the applicant with options:

Male
Female.

2/11

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

https://t.co/qisFhCiV1u

3/11


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.

https://t.co/CEJ0gkr6nF

'Gender' is not a synonym for sex.

4/11


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.

5/11
Hi @Census2021 @ons @IanDiamond11 @_datasmith @PhilippaBonay @EHRC @EHRCChair @KishwerFalkner @RJHilsenrath @trussliz @GEOgovuk

The 'Diversity' section of your job application states you promote 'not discriminating under the Equality Act 2010'.

However...

1/11


However, you then ask for the 'Gender' of the applicant with options:

Man
Woman
Prefer to self describe.

2/11

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

https://t.co/qisFhCiV1u

3/11


Sex is the protected characteristic & the only two possible options for sex are 'Female' &'Male' as defined in the Act & consistent with biology, but you don't ask for that. 'Self-describe' is not a valid option

https://t.co/CEJ0gkr6nF

'Gender' is not a synonym for sex.

4/11


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.

5/11
Hi @derbyspolice @DerbysPCC @EHRC @EHRCChair @KishwerFalkner @RJHilsenrath @trussliz @GEOgovuk

The Equal Ops Monitoring section in your job application asks for the 'Sex (Gender)' of the applicant with options:

Male
Female.

1/12


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

https://t.co/qisFhCiV1u

2/12


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.

https://t.co/CEJ0gkr6nF

'Gender' is not a synonym for sex.

3/12

You also ask about 'transgender'.

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

4/12


There is a protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment', but the term 'transgender' is not used or defined in the Act.

https://t.co/2o53ufahzA

5/12

More from Society

Brief thread to debunk the repeated claims we hear about transmission not happening 'within school walls', infection in school children being 'a reflection of infection from the community', and 'primary school children less likely to get infected and contribute to transmission'.

I've heard a lot of scientists claim these three - including most recently the chief advisor to the CDC, where the claim that most transmission doesn't happen within the walls of schools. There is strong evidence to rebut this claim. Let's look at


Let's look at the trends of infection in different age groups in England first- as reported by the ONS. Being a random survey of infection in the community, this doesn't suffer from the biases of symptom-based testing, particularly important in children who are often asymptomatic

A few things to note:
1. The infection rates among primary & secondary school children closely follow school openings, closures & levels of attendance. E.g. We see a dip in infections following Oct half-term, followed by a rise after school reopening.


We see steep drops in both primary & secondary school groups after end of term (18th December), but these drops plateau out in primary school children, where attendance has been >20% after re-opening in January (by contrast with 2ndary schools where this is ~5%).

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