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