Volunteers at women only group

[CommonFishDiseases]

I have a friend working in a paid role in a non profit organisation which runs a women-only group to vulnerable women of a variety of socioeconomic groups including conservative Muslim women.

Recently the group was approached by a transwoman who wanted to volunteer with the group. My friend feels very uncomfortable with this but is not sure what their legal position is... are they allowed to refuse this person to volunteer?

Can anyone signpost me to any organisations that will give an overview of the current legal context or will provide advice to groups in this situation?

Thanks!!

Yes they are, women are entitled to single SEX services under the equality act.

I’m sure someone with more precise info will be along, but I think it’s all on the Fair Play for Women site too.

Sorry, yes they are legally allowed to refuse

twitter.com/RadFemLawyer/status/1084070070207373312

This thread from LadyJustice is good.

Thank you, this is really helpful.

Why would anyone want to volunteer where they know they're not wanted? Nobody can have avoided the rows going on about this, the twitter spats, police warnings, women putting up signs etc.. They know. So what possible reason could there be, apart from shoving it in women's faces that they're entitled because twaw.

Plus the same bullshittery going on as all the Period Poverty virtue-signalling. "We're wimmin and we care about wimminly things, we're all sisters".

Juells

Also, that 'validation' thing they want.

Or it is a shakedown. I think we are seeing this more and more.

1. Ask to volunteer with a women's group.

1. Get turned down.

1. Threaten to sue them/denounce them in the media.

1. Suggest a financial settlement that will make everything go away.

Not sure where you'd get impartial advice on this. Legally it may depend what kind of 'transwoman' they are. A bloke in a wig, or a fully diagnosed/hormones/surgery with GRC, or anything between. This is where we need proper clarity on how exemptions can be applied which is not happening and leading to the scenario Popchyk spells out.

Do organisations have to give reasons for accepting volunteers for particular roles or not?

Maybe they can help without interaction with the women? If they are a fundraiser or legal bod maybe?

I’m all happy for people to volunteer but if it’s purely to be ‘one of the girls’ then no, it’s for their own gender ID benefit and not of those who use the service.

I don't know where you live OP, but everywhere I've lived there are masses of very varied volunteer roles. I'd be very suspicious of any male who was very keen to insinuate themselves in a clearly female-oriented role.

Juells you are completely right on this.
Why would this person want to volunteer with vulnerable women?Come on, As ancient said there are loads of places they could volunteer. They want to be told no so they can kick up a fuss on twitter or wherever. It's such a low thing to do.Hope you get some good advice for your friend op.

Don’t tell them why they’re being refused so they can’t kick up a fuss about it. And don’t discuss the situation in writing.

Your friend might be legally allowed to refuse, but a TRA tantrum could still make life very difficult for her and for the organisation. Best to turn them down in as anodyne and bland a way as possible. We’re not in Canada thankfully, but the case of Vancouver Rape Relief and Kimberly Nixon tells you something about the psychology operating here.

yes, very easy to just say 'sorry we don't need any one at the moment. Have you thought about the Oxfam shop/animal rescue place/local environmental group'
but also, good for the organisation to check out the legal position so they can be prepared in the future

Most women's groups advertising vacancies quote:

exempt under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1 - link to to incomprehensible legal jargon www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/schedule/9

Does your group not have access to legal advice? In setting up the group did the MC or whatever not have an idea about what they wanted to offer.

It is possible that either the Women's Resource Centre www.wrc.org.uk/ or Rights of Women could give you advice. (Not sure that ROW's helplines would cover this though rightsofwomen.org.uk/get-advice/advice-lines/)

Would have liked to suggest Fawcett but a recent statement about them seems to imply they have taken the Stonewall training

send them over to the Fawcett society to volunteer!

Can anyone explain the relevance of this to me please?

www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/our-statement-sex-and-gender-reassignment-legal-protections-and-language

Certain exceptions in the Act set out circumstances in which it is permissible to treat someone differently because of their sex or gender reassignment, for reasons of public policy or to protect the rights of others. The use of such exceptions generally needs to be justified as being a proportionate way to achieve a legitimate objective. This will often require a case-by-case approach to determine what is legitimate and proportionate in any given circumstance.

Under the Act, the protection from gender reassignment discrimination applies to all trans people who are proposing to go, are undergoing or have undergone (part of) a process of gender reassignment. At the same time, a trans person is protected from sex discrimination on the basis of their legal sex. This means that a trans woman who does not hold a GRC and is therefore legally male would be treated as male for the purposes of the sex discrimination provisions, and a trans woman with a GRC would be treated as female. The sex discrimination exceptions in the Equality Act therefore apply differently to a trans person with a GRC or without a GRC.

^^ That's the June 30th 2018 amendment by the way.

Currently a volunteer or prospective volunteer cannot bring a Discrimination claim as they are not a “worker” under the Equality Act. See the case of X v Mid Sussex CAB 2012 UKSC59

That last paragraph is evident of the change in the guidance the EHRC puts out. Previously their position was to completely ignore the fact that a male without a GRC was legally male and to advise that they had a right to access female-only spaces and could be excluded only on a case by case basis and that GRC holders couldn't be excluded at all.

EHRC quietly also deleted relevant passages in their guidance to businesses. The reference to the legal sex of males without a GRC is obscure, but what it means is that you are not discriminating against a trans-identifying male without a GRC if you are excluding that male from female-only spaces if all others who are legally male are also excluded.

Could your friend not just let the request disappear into a black hole of bureaucracy and ‘from pillar to post’ and stonewalling (sorry for pun)?

And general inertia

People do get discriminated against all the time on the basis of protected characteristics and there is little anyone can do unless the employer is stupid enough to say that that's the reason.

"We don't want any black/gay/old people here" –> get sued.

"We had a number of candidates who we feel are a better fit" –> don't get sued.

It would be interesting to ask what area they think their skills are best suited, and why.

But I'd just ignore the request for as long as possible, because I think we all know what is going on here.

But the Equality Act 2010 does permit males (inc with a GRC) to be excluded.

Thank you CharlieParley