Court of Appeal finds that Gender Segregation can amount to unlawful Sex Discrimination

Press release from: Southall Black Sisters

In a landmark judgment handed down today, the Court of Appeal found that ‘separate but equal’ treatment on the basis of gender at a school can amount to unlawful sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA).

The Court (Etherton MR and Beatson and Gloster LJJ) had been asked to consider gender segregation at the Al-Hijrah school, a voluntary aided Muslim co-ed school in which boys and girls are completely segregated from the age of 9.

The Court found that the school’s policy of strict segregation was discriminatory since it had an adverse impact on the quality and effectiveness of the education given by the school to both the girls and boy pupils respectively, and could not be justified under one of the exceptions set out in the Equality Act.

Moreover, Gloster LJ went further and accepted the submissions of SBS and Inspire that the effect of gender segregation, in the specific context of this Muslim school, was not gender neutral but informed by particular precepts and practices of certain Muslim communities.

Drawing extensively upon the ‘Casey Review’, which was referenced in SBS and Inspire’s submissions, Gloster LJ concluded that the school’s policy was particularly detrimental for girls in that it reinforced the different spaces – private and public – that men and women must occupy, and their respective stereotyped roles which accord them differential and unequal status.

This is an important judgment with far reaching consequences for the rights of minority women and girls to equality and the freedom to participate in public life as citizens.

Pragna Patel of SBS said: “We very much welcome the judgment and its recognition that gender segregation can be unlawful and discriminatory, especially in contexts where the practice is tied to the rise of religious fundamentalist and conservative norms. For over three decades, we have seen how regressive religious forces have targeted schools and universities as a means by which to control and police female sexuality in minority communities. The imposition of gender segregation, dress codes and sharia laws are just some means by which gender inequality is legitimised and promoted despite the serious and harmful consequences. This judgment is a vital step forward in our effort to persuade the courts and state bodies to take account of the reality of the misogyny and gender stereotyping that is promoted in our schools and universities in the name of religious and cultural freedom. We are delighted that the court has seen through this and upheld the equality principle.

Sara Khan of Inspire said: “I am pleased the Court of Appeal has recognised that in the context of co-ed schools which apply gender segregation throughout the school day, separate is not equal. Inspire have long argued that the practice of gender segregation is discriminatory and is a violation of the Equality Act. Over the years, religious fundamentalists in our country have aggressively sought to normalise the practice of gender segregation in our schools and institutions; and unfortunately we have witnessed a growing accommodation to it in particular by local authorities. This landmark ruling can now act as a bulwark against this. The Court of Appeal’s judgment makes clear that the policy of gender segregation as practiced by Al-Hijrah and other co-ed schools across our country is unlawful and has no place in our multicultural and multi-faith society. I hope this serves as a reminder that equality and the rights of women and girls especially from minority communities must not be sacrificed in the name of culture or religion.”

Comedy Interlude: Tim Allen - Precious Snowflake

This show was allegedly cancelled as a result of these anti-snowflake skits. Who knows. It's funny and the line "Good evening ladies and gentlemen and all those sitting on the fence" will remain with me always.

Enjoy.

JVL Don't Represent Jewish Labour Members: Unite and Other Unions Must Not Legitimise Them

Statement from Labour Against Anti-Semitism

Jewish Voice for Labour launched at the 2017 Labour Conference claiming to be an alternative voice in the Labour movement for Jewish socialists. They received media coverage and Len McCluskey, the General Secretary of Unite, attended their launch event. They are now presenting themselves as a rival to other more established and more representative bodies of Jewish Labour membership.

However, the unfortunate reality is that they are led by suspended and expelled Labour members who have defined themselves as antisemitic over many years. Figures like Jackie Walker, Tony Greenstein and Mike Cushman have attempted to cloak their antisemitism as anti-Zionism, but they are betrayed by their actions, their activities and their words.

Over the years they have endorsed racist policies such as BDS and now refuse to accept the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which Jeremy Corbyn himself adopted in full on behalf of the Labour Party in December 2016. While they do contain Jewish members, these represent a fringe minority of Jewish opinion and it is inaccurate to portray them as representative or reflective of the majority of Labour’s Jewish membership. Their views are certainly not representative.

Antisemitism is a clear and present threat to the Labour Party's moral, ethical and political integrity. An organisation that prides itself on its antiracist history must hold itself to a higher standard than it is currently doing. The mistakes of the past - the Chakrabarti Report, the failure to expel Ken Livingstone, etc - must be learned from and their lessons built upon.

The acceptance of the Jewish Labour Movement rule change by 96% of delegates at Labour Conference 2017 was a vital step in challenging Labour antisemitism and emphasises the desire of the Labour Party membership to act on racism in our movement. To take this necessary action further, more work at both a local and national level is required for progress is to be made. Groups like Jewish Voice for Labour, that seek to overturn the national decision-making body and ignore the majority view of Jewish and non-Jewish members, are obstacles to that progress.

It is therefore unacceptable that Jewish Voice for Labour be given any kind of endorsement from a significant part of our movement such as Unite, for to do so would be to legitimise racial hatred and bigotry within the Labour movement. We urge Unite and any other any union considering funding or supporting this organisation in any way to seriously reconsider doing so.

Anne Marie Waters splits from UKIP

Following the recent internal leadership election the runner up Anne Marie Waters has announced the foundation of a new political party. In a You Tube message to her supporter she attacks new party leader Henry Bolton and Nigel Farage for running to the media falsely accusing her of being a "racist" and a Nazi".

Breibart News continues:

She also hit out at new UKIP leader Henry Bolton, remarking his desire to sit down and discuss Islamism with the Muslim community is “capitulation”.

Calling for excitement and honesty in British politics, Waters said: “I will keep fighting so that British children can feel proud of themselves again… so that the working class can have a voice again. You can be certain of one thing — I am not going away, and I will still be fighting Islam and the enormous threat it poses.

Photo: CC by SA

Anne Marie Waters originated out of the secular movement and was once involved in not just the One Law for All campaign but sought adoption as a Labour candidate until driven out by the left who accused her of Islamophobia.

(see Anne Marie Waters resigns from Labour).

The new party will attempt to compete with both UKIP and Labour.

No sex please we're British?

Photo: By Janice Y Ahn

The drive for gender neutrality seems to be creeping into every aspect of our lives at the moment. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has proposed that the question of sex (that's male or female not frequency) will become a voluntary question when the next Census is run in 2021.

Given the whole idea of a census is to find out about the country in order to develop social policy this idea seems mad in itself. Feminists like Germaine Greer fear it is an attack on the notion of a biological female sex and she has a point. 

Men may change their bodies but biologically they are not women and many women, rightly or wrongly see the Trans-movement as an invasion of their space. Identity politics seems to have caught hold of so many of our policy makers.

That people should be free to choose how they live is a notion the majority of people would concur with. However there remains the question of how far society should go to accommodate the needs of any minority let alone the ever growing varieties of gender identification and rejection.

Biologically there remain two sexes. The majority of people will fit in such definitions. Gender is a separate question I keep being told and am open to argument but sometimes such movements go too far. Removing the question of "Sex" as a compulsory question will distort statistics at a time when they are needed. 

Germany has seen an influx of immigration that is very much male dominated to the point where it is likely to cause problems for the future regardless of any cultural or religious differences. There are to put it bluntly now too many men in Germany.

It's not clear where the driving force is for this so-called "diversity" agenda is coming from. It's certainly not from the ordinary voter.

Meanwhile one of the transgender charities has been banned by the High Court from any contact with a family where the mother had forced her seven year old son to live as a girl, The Sunday Times reported:

Mr Justice Hayden removed the seven year old boy from his mother after finding she had caused him "significant emotional harm" and had pressed him into a gender identification that had far more to do with his mother's needs and little if anything, to do with his own.

The boy is now living with his father and has apparently quite happily "asserted" his masculinity.

The transgender group Mermaids had "insisted" that the boy had wanted to be a girl. Obviously not.

How many other children are being abused in this way? Because abuse it is. 

The time has come to sit back and look at the effect  that these activists are having on not just children but the vulnerable.  

Call on Unite union leader to apologise for dismissing antisemitism in Labour Party

 

Unite trade union leader Len McCluskey appeared to dismiss cases of anti-semitism in the Labour Party last week when he gave an interview saying he had “never been at a meeting where there was any antisemitic language or any attacks on the Jewish nation; they would have had short shrift at any meeting that I was at,” and when asked why people would make these allegations, he said: “Because they wanted to bring Corbyn down, it’s as simple as that.”

Please take part in our email campaign to him asking him to issue a public apology and recognise that victims’ complaints need to be investigated not dismissed:

www.webelieveinisrael.org.uk/campaign/

'Islam Ensnares Every Moment' by Yasmine Mohammed

This moving short film exposes the struggle faced by those seeking to find a way to freedom in the Islamic world.