Yha 'single gender' accommodation - unlawful?

[callmemargo]

Trying to book accommodation for my daughter and I at a yha, and it is now called single gender. This would seem unlawful in light of the supreme court judgement, am I wrong? And any advice on how to approach this, I would like to challenge them.

https://debbiehayton.com/2025/09/03/why-is-the-yha-allowing-males-to-stay-in-womens-dorms/

Unfortunately I think you have little chance of getting anywhere. When TW DH asked the same questions they seemed to think they were acting lawfully??? It’s questionable whether they do divide by gender (as realistically they would not have accommodation based on someone saying they were NB), more of a case if you think you are trans go wherever you feel comfortable and they will try and find private rooms for trans people who don’t want to share. It reads like that, rather than suggesting if anyone does feel uncomfortable sharing with someone of the opposite sex they will be looked after elsewhere although I could be wrong. Not much help sorry just providing information.

Not sure where it stands with regard to the law, but I’d send them a message telling them exactly why you chose not to book with them, only losing bookings will make them see sense.
If they can’t see that “single gender” is putting women at risk they’re being deliberately naive or stupid.

Agree that letting them know you aren't happy that they aren't following the Supreme Court ruling. Sadly the Government delay in getting new guidelines through HoC probably makes them feel they are in the right.

YHA (Youth Hostels Association) currently operates dormitories by
gender identity, not biological sex. This means guests are accommodated in the dorm room they identify with, and YHA customer service has stated, "We split our dorms by gender, and not sex, so our guests can stay in the room they assign themselves with".

Key Details of the Policy:

• Gender Identity Basis: The core of the policy is inclusivity, welcoming transgender guests and allowing individuals to use the facilities corresponding to their self-identified gender.
• Absence of Guaranteed Single-Sex Space: As a result, there is no guarantee that a person in a "female dormitory" or "male dormitory" will be sharing the room and facilities (toilets, showers) with only people of the same biological sex.
• Focus on Inclusivity and Safety: The YHA states that it provides staff with awareness training and aims to make hostels safe and comfortable environments for a diverse mix of guests, with a strict non-discrimination policy.
• Private Room Option: For guests who require single-sex accommodation with a guarantee of sharing only with people of the same biological sex, the only guaranteed option is to book a private room, which is often at a higher cost than a dorm bed.
• Response to Legal Guidance: YHA has indicated it follows legal and statutory obligations as advised by its solicitors and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and will review future official guidance to update its policies as needed.

The YHA policy has been a subject of public debate, particularly following a recent UK Supreme Court ruling that clarified the term "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 generally refers to biological sex, allowing for the legal provision of single-sex services in specific circumstances.

I haven't been able to search their web site as they dont seem to have a general inquiry function.

So cant see if they say they are offering "single sex" or use the phrase "single gender". Their booking system refers to male or female

This policy indirectly excludes you as a woman:
Women are at disproportionately high risk of physical and sexual assault, voyeurism, exhibitionism etc from men.
Sleeping makes us vulnerable so we need safeguards in place.
As they are choosing to provide mixed sex sleeping accommodations rather than single-sex ones, you and other women are more likely to self-exclude to protect yourselves from this higher risk.
They are likely in breach of safety requirements but certainly of indirect sex discrimination. Imo.
Not sure what can be pursued legally on these grounds. But you don’t have equal access because you face much higher risk.

“As a female guest I am at disproportionately higher risk of sexual and physical assault from male guests, especially in shared sleeping areas when I am undressed or asleep. This is a sex‑based safeguarding reality, not a personal preference. By only offering mixed‑sex dormitories, or by expecting women to pay more for private rooms to avoid men in shared sleeping areas, your policy puts women at particular disadvantage compared with men, and deters women from using your hostels at all. That is capable of amounting to indirect sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, and is inconsistent with your stated safeguarding duties.”

• What risk assessment has been done on women’s safety in mixed‑sex dorms at night.?
• Why can’t women‑only dorms, or at least clearly signposted sex‑segregated options at standard dorm prices, be provided?
• How do they consider this compatible with the Equality Act’s recognition of single‑sex communal accommodation for privacy and safety?

Mixed sex accommodation may be unlawful if it is found that it discriminates against women.

What they definitely can’t do is, having declared the facilities mixed sex, exclude on the basis of sex, so you are free to use the men’s facilities and vice versa.

Thanks all. I am going to email, I'm very angry about how it puts girls and women at risk of harm.

Would be interested to know what response others have had from from then recently.

They are indirectly discriminating against women who will not feel safe in a 'mixed sex' dormitory and may very well not be safe, too. It will take a woman being assaulted in their 'single gender' dorms and suing before they change, I suspect. Meanwhile, youth hostelling is less available to women (the real ones) than before.

Everyone from La Leche League to the YHA! World's gone mad.

Yes it is unlawful - it discriminates on the basis of sex which is unlawful unless relying on single sex exemptions as laid out in the Equality Act.

It is not just women face disproportionate disadvantage in mixed sex dorms. It is also that ‘gender’ is closely correlated with sex and you cannot discriminate on sex unless using an exemption in the act. So you cannot set up an arrangement where women as disproportionately denied access to a space (eg ‘masculine gender’ spaces).

Discimination doesn’t need to apply to everyone with a OC, just a disproportionate number of them.

One of the biggest problems i have with this is that it isnt clear that the single gender dorms are effectively mixed sex, so unfortunately there will be women and girls who end up with men in the same room.
If they just switched their policy to all mixed sex it would still be indirectly discriminatory to women but at least it would enable women to keep themselves safe and not book with them.

They have either failed to take legal advice or their legal advisors are incompetent.

https://sex-matters.org/posts/the-legal-system/ben-cooper-kc-explains-the-implications-of-fws/

It is depressing that people are so arrogant or ignorant as to think they can disregard the law just by using different terminology to refer to exactly the same thing.

I expect that like Girlguiding and the WI it will require someone to initiate legal action before they remedy this policy.

Agreed. This attempt to distort language to uphold an unlawful policy is what GG and the WI did.

I find it concerning that organisations think it's acceptable to fudge these details.

If they want to provide mixed sex services then they should make it clear that that is what they are providing.

If they want to pretend to provide a single sex service, but not really, then I'm not going to trust them to e.g. have a proper fire safety policy.

*OC should read PC

I was assaulted by a transwoman in a single sex (in those days) women's dorm in a youth hostel. Not sexually, but still very shocking. The same man (the police later told me) had exposed himself to a young girl in a women's public toilet.

I worked in a large youth hostel many years ago, and the sleeping accommodation was very strictly segregated by sex, with separate staircases to each area. And a dragon of a warden who used to patrol to ensure compliance.

i can’t believe it’s now mixed sex. As a young solo female traveller I was always safe with the YHA. Sad times indeed.

I suspect they are trying to fudge the issue, as nowhere that I could see on their web site to they advertise single sex service as allowed under the EA pre the Supreme Court ruling. ie is it "proportionate" to say that when booking overnight shared accommodation you are entitled to have this as a single sex provision.

They do say as part of their booking process you can choose to tick either male of female but dont appear to say what this relates to. But again if you just look at their web site there doesn't seem to be a Policy link.

So I am sure they are thinking we aren't offering single sex services, the supreme court may have said the word women means biological sex, but the Government hasn't passed guideline to say how service providers should implement it.

But they are totally guilty of not making it clear from the home page of their web site, that they are providing a service based on identity not sex.

And in doing this they are putting women at the very least at discomfort and at the very worst leaving women frightened and scared.

On any level as a service provider this is a disgrace.

Edited to add:

One of the common responses from not just the charity sector put also commercial providers that the organisation MUST be clear and honest about the basis of their provision.

The fact that they aren't implies far more about them than anything else

So you end up with the situation I was in, when you're attacked in the middle of the night by an astonishingly strong (because you thought it was a woman) man in what was supposed to be a single sex dorm, having just undressed in front of said man.