The EHRC Code of Practice Has Finally Been Laid

FiLiA is grateful to the Minister for Women and Equalities for laying the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Code of Practice before Parliament today. Feminists in the FiLiA Women’s Assembly, and at FiLiA conferences, frequently raise the failure of organisations to comply with the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 on single-sex spaces and lesbian associations and we hope this failure to protect women will now end.

It is long overdue – For Women Scotland’s landmark win at the Supreme Court, which we reported on at the time, was on 16th April 2025 and the consultation on the Code of Practice, which we responded to, closed many months ago. Women across the country will be relieved that this guidance is finally available, but our rights and needs should have been recognised and met much earlier. Service providers and statutory agencies will soon no longer be able to deploy the weak excuse that they are ‘waiting for the guidance’ before complying with the law. They will have to review their existing policies and practices to ensure women have access to safe services and spaces, including sports clubs, swimming sessions, lesbian associations, refuges, prisons and hospital wards.

For years, FiLiA has created space at our conferences, and via our podcasts and blogs, for women to speak about the urgent need for single-sex spaces for women who have been subjected to men’s violence. Most recently, at FiLiA2025 in Brighton, we heard from local women involved with the ‘I Am Sarah’ campaign about the complete absence of single-sex provision for survivors of male violence in the city. Women have continually spoken out about lesbians' rights to gather without men, women’s rights to fair and safe inclusion in sports, and for the rights of women in prison and custody to be safe – women should always have been able to rely on the state to uphold these rights.

We have long been calling for Governments to be clear about the operation of the single-sex exceptions under the Equality Act 2010, and how they interact with the GRA 2004, and for guidance from the EHRC to service providers, commissioners and employers to be a clear and accurate reflection of the law.

Public bodies, service providers and employers need to obey the law – this means complying with the Equality Act 2010, as clarified by the Supreme Court; and for statutory agencies discharging their Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) – ensuring they are actively considering how policies and practices impact on women.

We have developed campaigning toolkits and resources to support women in challenging unlawful policies and practices. Now that the Code of Practice has finally been published, women are in a far stronger position to hold decision-makers to account where they are failing to consider women’s needs, rights, and experiences. Public authorities can no longer ignore their obligations under the PSED: to recognise women as a sex class and to assess the impact of policies on women and girls. Women across the country can use this moment to organise, scrutinise and challenge institutions that continue to deny women lawful single-sex spaces, services and associations.

Parliament returns from recess on 1st June and we could see some heated debates in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The FiLiA Campaigns and Policy team will be watching closely.

Laura Pascal, FiLiA Campaigns and Policy Team