|
| |
| |
A | |
Bill | |
To | |
Make provision for the prevention of sex discrimination in relation to membership of, | |
or the benefits, facilities and services afforded by, clubs and other private associations. | |
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and | |
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present | |
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— | |
1 Discrimination: private clubs | |
In the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (c. 65) (“the 1975 Act”), after section 29 | |
(discrimination in provision of goods, facilities or services) there is inserted— | |
“29A Discrimination by mixed-sex private clubs: members and associates | |
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this section applies to any association of | 5 |
persons (however described, whether corporate or unincorporate, and | |
whether or not its activities are carried on for profit) if— | |
(a) it has twenty-five or more members, | |
(b) admission to membership is regulated by its constitution and is | |
so conducted that the members do not constitute a section of the | 10 |
public within the meaning of section 29(1), and | |
(c) it is not an organisation to which section 12 applies. | |
(2) This section does not apply to an association if the association shows | |
that its constitution restricts membership to persons of one sex. | |
(3) It is unlawful for an association to which this section applies, in the case | 15 |
of a woman who is not a member of the association, to discriminate | |
against her— | |
(a) in the terms on which it is prepared to admit her to | |
membership, or | |
(b) by refusing or deliberately omitting to accept her application for | 20 |
membership. | |
(4) It is unlawful for an association to which this section applies, in the case | |
of a woman who is a member or associate of the association, to | |
discriminate against her— | |
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
(a) in the way it affords her access to any benefits, facilities or | |
services, or by refusing or deliberately omitting to afford her | |
access to them, or | |
(b) in the case of a member, by depriving her of membership, or | |
varying the terms on which she is a member, or | 5 |
(c) in the case of an associate, by depriving her of her rights as an | |
associate, or varying those rights, or | |
(d) in either case, by subjecting her to any other detriment. | |
(5) For the purposes of this section— | |
(a) a person is a member of an association if she belongs to it by | 10 |
virtue of her admission to any sort of membership provided for | |
by its constitution (and is not merely a person with certain | |
rights under its constitution by virtue of her membership of | |
some other association), and references to membership of an | |
association shall be construed accordingly; | 15 |
(b) a person is an associate of an association to which this section | |
applies if, not being a member of it, she has under its | |
constitution some or all of the rights enjoyed by members (or | |
would have apart from any provision in its constitution | |
restricting those rights to men or authorising the refusal of them | 20 |
in particular cases). | |
(6) For the purposes of subsection (2)— | |
(a) a constitution which provides for more than one sort of | |
membership is not to be treated as restricting membership to | |
persons of one sex if one sort of membership is restricted to one | 25 |
sex but not all the sorts are restricted to that sex, and | |
(b) any minor exceptions to a restriction on membership (such as | |
an exception relating to ex officio or honorary membership) shall | |
be disregarded. | |
29B Guests: discrimination by mixed-sex clubs | 30 |
It is unlawful for an association to which section 29A applies to | |
discriminate against a woman on an occasion when she is its guest— | |
(a) in the way in which it affords her access to any of the benefits, | |
facilities or services to which other guests are afforded access by | |
it on that or a comparable occasion, | 35 |
(b) by refusing or deliberately omitting to afford her access to any | |
of those benefits, facilities or services, or | |
(c) by subjecting her to any other detriment. | |
29C Guests: discrimination by single-sex clubs | |
(1) It is unlawful for a single-sex association to discriminate against a | 40 |
woman on a mixed-guest occasion when she is its guest— | |
(a) in the way it affords her access to any of the benefits, facilities or | |
services to which male guests are afforded access by the | |
association on that occasion, | |
(b) by refusing or deliberately omitting to afford her access to any | 45 |
of those benefits, facilities or services, or | |
(c) by subjecting her to any other detriment. | |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
(2) In this section “single-sex association” means an association falling | |
within section 29A(1) whose constitution restricts membership to | |
persons of one sex. | |
(3) Section 29A(6) applies for the purposes of subsection (2). | |
(4) In this section “mixed-guest occasion” means an occasion for which an | 5 |
association to which this section applies— | |
(a) invites, or | |
(b) permits any member or associate to invite, | |
persons of both sexes to be guests of the association. | |
(5) References in this section to benefits, facilities or services to which male | 10 |
guests are afforded access on an occasion include references to benefits, | |
facilities or services to which male guests, if in fact there were any male | |
guests on that occasion, would be afforded access. | |
29D Meaning of “guest” and other provisions supplementary to sections | |
29B and 29C | 15 |
(1) For the purposes of sections 29B and 29C, a person is a guest of an | |
association if, on the occasion in question— | |
(a) she is not a member or an associate of the association to whom, | |
as such a member or associate, the association affords access to | |
the benefits, facilities or services to which guests are afforded | 20 |
access by it on that occasion, | |
(b) she makes use of (or attempts to make use of) any of those | |
benefits, facilities or services, | |
(c) she does so by virtue of an invitation issued by the association | |
or by virtue of an invitation issued by any member or associate | 25 |
of the association and permitted by the association, | |
(d) she does so otherwise than as a member of the public or section | |
of the public (within the meaning of section 29(1)), and | |
(e) her doing so is not incidental to the provision by her of any | |
services. | 30 |
(2) For the purposes of section 29C(4) and subsection (1)(c), it is immaterial | |
whether the invitation or permission is of a specific or a standing | |
nature. | |
(3) Section 29A(5) applies for the purposes of section 29C and this | |
section.”. | 35 |
2 Exceptions | |
(1) The 1975 Act is amended as follows. | |
(2) In section 33 (exceptions in relation to political parties), in each of subsections | |
(2) and (3) for “section 29(1)” there is substituted “sections 29 to 29C”. | |
(3) In section 34(3) (exceptions for voluntary bodies whose main object is | 40 |
conferring benefits on persons of one sex only), for “section 29 or” there is | |
substituted “sections 29 to”. | |
(4) In section 35 (further exceptions from sections 29(1) and 30)— | |
(a) in the sidenote, for “29(1) and 30” there is substituted “29 to 30”; | |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
(b) in each of subsections (1) and (2) (exceptions related to privacy, decency | |
and religious freedom), for “section 29(1)” there is substituted “any of | |
sections 29 to 29C”. | |
(5) In section 35, after subsection (3) there is added— | |
“(4) Sections 29A to 29C do not render unlawful any refusal to allow a | 5 |
woman to perform a task whose essential nature calls for a man for | |
reasons of authenticity in a dramatic performance or other | |
entertainment. | |
(5) Subsection (6) applies to an association whose main object is to enable | |
the benefits of membership to be enjoyed by persons of a particular | 10 |
religion. | |
(6) Nothing in sections 29A to 29C renders it unlawful for any association | |
to which this subsection applies to restrict to men— | |
(a) membership (or any sort of membership) of the association, or | |
(b) access afforded by the association to any benefits, facilities or | 15 |
services, | |
where the restriction is in order to comply with the doctrines of that | |
religion or avoid offending the religious susceptibilities of a significant | |
number of that religion’s followers.” | |
(6) In section 48 (certain discriminatory training), in each of subsections (2) and (3) | 20 |
after “section 12” there is inserted “or 29A”, and after subsection (3) there is | |
added— | |
“(4) In subsections (2) and (3) references to an organisation to which section | |
29A applies include references to any association to which that section | |
applies.” | 25 |
(7) In section 49 (trade unions etc: elective bodies), in subsection (1)— | |
(a) after “section 12”, in the first place where it occurs, there is inserted “or | |
29A”; and | |
(b) for “section 12”, in the second place where it occurs, there is substituted | |
“that section”. | 30 |
(8) In section 49, after subsection (2) there is added— | |
“(3) In this section references to an organisation to which section 29A | |
applies include references to any association to which that section | |
applies.” | |
3 Consequential amendment | 35 |
In the Licensing Act 1964 (c. 26), in Schedule 7 (provisions as to club rules), in | |
paragraph 2(4)(a) the words from “women” to “women’s club,” are repealed. | |
4 Short title, extent, commencement and transitional provision | |
(1) This Act may be cited as the Sex Discrimination (Clubs and Other Private | |
Associations) Act 2003. | 40 |
(2) Any amendment of an enactment by this Act has the same extent as the | |
enactment amended. | |
| |
| |
