Protected Characteristics in United Kingdom

Protected characteristics in the Context of Equality Law

The meaning of Protected characteristics, published by the Equality and Diversity Forum (a United Kindom network of equality and human rights organisations), is the following: are the personal characteristics of people that are protected from discrimination in the Equality Act 2010, namely, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. The ‘relevant’ protected characteristics for the purposes of the Equality Duty are slightly more limited, they are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. The Equality Duty also applies to the protected characteristic of marriage and civil partnership, but only in respect of the requirement to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination (and not to advance equality or opportunity or foster good relations).

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See Also

• Equality Law
• Equality Act
• Equality Legislation
• Human Rights