The Equality Act protects people across the UK from discrimination at work and in everyday life. This blog explains why it matters, how it came to be, and why protecting these hard-won rights is so important.

The Equality Act Protects Our Rights

The Equality Act is what enforces equal pay. It is what protects women from being pushed out of work for being pregnant. It is what allows us to challenge sexual harassment and sex discrimination at work and in public life.

Repeal it, and we lose those protections in an instant.

But beyond those protections, if the Act is repealed, every person across Scotland England and Wales loses legal protection from discrimination.

This International Women’s Day, we refuse to let the idea of progress be rolled back and hard-won rights stripped from the legislative books.

Why We’re Talking About the Equality Act Now

In recent weeks, there have been deeply concerning narratives appearing in the media in relation to scrapping the Equality Act 2010.

Rather than indulging in divisive narratives, we thought we would take this opportunity to outline what the Equality Act means for everyone. We are all protected by this legislation, and it benefits everybody across the UK.

What the Equality Act 2010 Does

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society bringing together key pieces of legislation, including the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976.

Historically, Fawcett was instrumental in lobbying for the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, along with a wide range of women’s organisations, campaigning actively for a sex discrimination bill across the first half of the 1970s.

We stand on the shoulders of campaigners, trade unionists and workers who fought tirelessly by striking, lobbying parliament and protesting to keep the momentum of the Bill in its initial stages.

How the Sex Discrimination Act Changed the Workplace

Now merged as part of the Equality Act, the Sex Discrimination Act revolutionised the workplace for women, giving them legal protection and power to challenge discrimination in the workplace and other areas of life. It made unlawful to discriminate based on sex or marital status in areas like employment, education, housing, and the provision of goods, facilities, and services.

Amongst many other things, these are rights that we must cherish today.

Rights We Must Protect

Take for example your right to equal pay. The Equality Act makes it illegal for women to be paid less than men for equal work, meaning your right to equal pay is protected in the legislation. It also places a legal responsibility on employers to prevent sexual harassment at work and makes it illegal to fire you if you are pregnant and provides redundancy protection on maternity leave. Without Equality Act, could be refused employment simply because you are perceived to be of child-bearing age.

But the Equality Act isn’t just for women, like we’ve said it benefits everyone. It prevents you from being discriminated against based on age, meaning older workers cannot being pushed out of work because of their age. It ensures that service providers and shops are duty bound to ensure disable people can access their service.

Progress Made — and Progress Still Needed

We know we still have a long way to go. Since the passing of the Act in 2010, the gender pay gap remains entrenched, violence against women and girls is endemic, and access to justice is limited. However, recent upgrades made through the Employment Rights Act will now further protect workers and strengthen existing equalities legislation. The Employment Rights act enshrined day one rights to paternity and parental leave, flexible working and sick pay. It also brings an end to exploitative zero-hours contracts and ‘fire and rehire’ practices and places a legal duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. These are measures that will benefit all workers hugely.

The Campaigners Who Won These Rights

Fawcett recently met with Belinda Price, who in 1977 won a case against the Civil Service challenging an age limit of 28 for entry as an executive officer. She demonstrated that fewer women than men could comply with the age limit since many women in their twenties were out of the labour market having children.

Her case helped expose how seemingly neutral policies can still discriminate. It was part of the wider fight that pushed institutions to change and strengthened the legal protections many of us rely on today.

Women like Belinda fought for these rights, often at great personal cost. The protections in the Equality Act did not appear overnight. They were won through years of persistence, courage and collective action. We cannot afford to see that progress unravelled. Protecting the Equality Act means protecting the rights generations fought to secure.

Watch our interview with Belinda below