Does the Gender Reassignment protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 reflect on and offer protection to the identities of the non-binary?

2010 年《平等法案》中受性别重新分配保护的特征是否反映并为非二元性别的身份提供保护？

• 批准号: 2588226
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2588226
• 关键词: Does; Gender; Reassignment; protected; characteristic

Does the Gender Reassignment protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 reflect on and offer protection to the identities of the non-binary community?This project is concerned with critically examining section 7 of the Equality Act 2010, in light of rapid legal changes caused by the UK's removal from the EU, regarding whether its doctrinal language is sufficient alone in offering protection to the UK's non-binary transgender populace. As a piece of legislation heavily influenced by pressure from the ECHR Convention and the anti-discrimination policies of the EU, the Equality Act is a vital piece of human rights legislation protecting vulnerable minority groups within the UK. However, following the removal of the EU's protections in a post-Brexit UK, alongside the governments promise to review and potentially repeal the Human Rights Act, the Equality Act 2010 has become more central than ever before as many individuals' sole source of legal protection. This is especially concerning for some groups, such as the UK's non-binary populace, due to continued debate over whether or not their identities fall under the protections of the Equality Act. Over the past decade, social studies into the experiences and wellbeing of the non-binary community specifically have shown repeatedly that despite being a relatively small populace, non-binary people within the UK are reporting at a significantly higher risk of mental health issues and lack of social support compared to both cisgender people and binary transgender people, putting them at a greater risk of discrimination and need for legal support. However, despite this recorded vulnerability, there remains a divisive argument over whether or not this community is legally recognized by the Equality Act 2010. This has been exacerbated over the years by conflicting evidence, including multiple campaigns to alter the wording of the Act's 'gender reassignment' section and following the decision in the 2020 Employment Tribunal Case Taylor vs Land Rover Ltd. (2015 Early Day Motion EDM660, January 2016, Trans Inquiry Report by the Women and Equalities Committee; UK Equality Act 2010).As an established vulnerable group, especially to mental health issues, a lack of meaningful access to legal protection in the face of a discrimination case could cause a significant rise in health concerns among the community, putting them at great risk. The aim of this study, therefore, is to critically analyse the applicability of section 7 of the Equality Act 2010 for offering legal protection to a variety of non-binary individuals, and as an example analysis of the Equality Act in its current form, reflecting on the potential need for further investigation. The proposed study would be a 3-year mixed theoretical and empirical socio-legal study, combining critical legal theory to analyse the history and social background framing the current position of the 'gender reassignment' section of the Equality Act 2010 alongside a qualitative empirical approach on the first-hand perspective on gender identity within the nonbinary population of the UK and perspectives on what future changes should include ensuring protection. This will allow for an exploration of intent versus impact within the doctrinal language, whether its language matches with personal experience of gender identity regardless of its applicability and the consequences of this, resulting in a conclusion on whether further action is necessary. In a rapidly changing post-Brexit legal climate, the protection of vulnerable minorities within the UK is vitally in need of corroboration, and this study will aim to act as a case study for one of the most underrepresented.

2010年《平等法》规定的性别重新分配受保护的特征是否反映了非二元社区的身份并为其提供保护？鉴于英国退出欧盟导致的快速法律变化，该项目涉及对2010年《平等法》第7条的批判性审查，即其教义语言是否足以为英国的非二元变性人群体提供保护。作为一项在很大程度上受到《欧洲人权公约》和欧盟反歧视政策压力影响的立法，《平等法》是保护英国境内弱势少数群体的重要人权立法。然而，在脱欧后的英国取消了欧盟的保护措施后，随着政府承诺审查并可能废除《人权法》，《2010年平等法》变得比以往任何时候都更加重要，因为它是许多个人唯一的法律保护来源。这对一些群体来说尤其令人担忧，比如英国的非二元人群，因为他们的身份是否受到《平等法》的保护的争论仍在继续。在过去的十年里，对非二元人群的经历和幸福感的社会研究一再表明，尽管英国的人口相对较少，但英国境内的非二元人群报告称，与顺性别者和双性别者相比，他们出现心理健康问题和缺乏社会支持的风险要高得多，这使得他们面临更大的歧视风险，需要法律支持。然而，尽管有这种记录的脆弱性，但关于这个社区是否得到2010年《平等法》的法律承认，仍然存在分歧的争论。多年来，相互矛盾的证据加剧了这种情况，包括多次发起运动来改变该法案的性别调整部分的措辞，以及在2020年就业法庭泰勒诉路虎有限公司一案(2015年凌晨动议EDM660,2016年1月，妇女和平等委员会的跨调查报告；英国2010年平等法)做出裁决后。作为一个既定的弱势群体，尤其是精神健康问题，在面对歧视案件时缺乏有意义的法律保护可能会导致社区对健康的担忧显著上升，使他们面临巨大的风险。因此，这项研究的目的是批判性地分析2010年《平等法》第7节在向各种非二元个人提供法律保护方面的适用性，并举例分析目前形式的《平等法》，以反映进一步调查的潜在需要。这项拟议的研究将是一项为期3年的混合理论和经验的社会法律研究，结合批判性法律理论来分析勾勒出2010年《平等法》“性别重新分配”部分现状的历史和社会背景，并对英国非二元人口中性别认同的第一手视角进行定性的实证研究，以及对未来哪些变化应包括确保保护的视角。这将允许探讨教义语言中的意图与影响，其语言是否与性别认同的个人经验相匹配，而不管其适用性和后果，从而得出是否有必要采取进一步行动的结论。在英国退欧后快速变化的法律环境下，英国对弱势少数群体的保护迫切需要得到证实，这项研究将成为代表最少的群体之一的案例研究。