New laws needed on sex equality, says commission
By Terence Shaw, Legal Correspondent
Kamlesh Bahl, the solicitor who heads the commission, described the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts as “hopelessly out of date” when she launched the report yesterday. Society had seen “vast changes” since the Acts came into force, she said. Many problems with which the commission was asked to help, such as sexual harassment, were not even covered by the legislation.
The commission had consulted more than 200 individuals and organisations, including unions and employers, on its draft proposals for a new law. Miss Bahl said it had found “overwhelming support” for a single statute to protected sex equality as a basic human right. Formal proposals for a new sex equality law would be presented to the Government in the autumn.
In its report, the commission said that 20 years ago sexual harassment, transsexualism and maternity rights were not considered to be part of sex discrimination. But cases in Europe and in British domestic courts had made clear that these issues were related and that they needed to be reflected in new legislation.
The commission is also calling on the Government to build the principles of sex equality into all its policies as experience had shown that they could not be effectively “bolted on” afterwards.
In what was one of its busiest years, the Commission received more than 25,000 calls in 1997 for advice on issues ranging from pay and employment to advertising and recruitment. Women made 71 per cent of the inquiries.
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