Equality Impact Assessment: An Underrated Tool for Lasting Feminist Change!
By Kat BH
Many of the women we have spoken to feel frustrated with decision makers who seem blind to the female perspective or the impact their work has on women.
Behind our laws, practice and provision, workplace policies or budget cuts, there’s often an invisible bias ‒ one that disproportionately adversely affects women. And the impact is felt even harder by those at the intersections of race, disability, class and migration status. Too often the needs of women with disabilities, ethnic minority and migrant women, lesbians and women living in poverty are ignored, their voices sidelined, and their struggles compounded by policies that never considered them in the first place.
Some tools already exist to help challenge this and push for better decisions. We will shortly be publishing detailed advice and running a series of workshops on how to use them – starting with the underrated Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)...
What is an EqIA? And why should I care?
An EqIA is a structured look at how a new decision could actually affect different groups of people and can help central government, local authorities and all other public bodies (organisations that carry out public functions – such as schools, the police and the NHS) to assess whether their decisions are fair for everyone. Done properly, they can be a powerful tool to spot unlawful discrimination before it happens, guiding policymakers to work out who might be disadvantaged, how that could be fixed and what actual equity might look like.
Done poorly ‒ or not at all ‒ it can amount to bureaucratic box-ticking that leaves public bodies vulnerable to challenge. Or worse still, it can allow unlawful preferential treatment of fashionable groups at the expense of others.
One recent example is the much-publicised NHS Fife decision to allow trans-identifying males to use female changing facilities without consulting female staff. This case shows why EqIAs are so important – if the impact on women had been adequately identified, considered and acted on, it's possible that an employment tribunal could have been avoided.
What does the law say?
The Equality Act 2010 – which turned 15 this week – is our secret weapon. The law recognises nine protected characteristics: Age, Disability, Gender Reassignment, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race, Religion or Belief, Sex and Sexual Orientation. Some protections are specific (like pregnancy), while others (like age or race) apply to everyone.
Contained within the Equality Act is the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
It bans direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and requires due regard be given to promoting equality of opportunity and the fostering of good relations within the nine protected characteristics. It also requires that reasonable adjustments are made for disabled people. These are known as the general duty.
Due regard means that when considering a new or revised policy or practice, the public body's staff must actively think about how to avoid discrimination, harassment and victimisation; ensure all protected groups have equal opportunities; and encourage good feelings and understanding between different protected groups.
This thinking (which may include consultations, research, analysis etc.) must be evidenced, and an EqIA is a sensible place to record that evidence.
Public bodies must publish information demonstrating how they comply with the PSED. The rules vary in England, Scotland and Wales ‒ our guide will cover all this in more detail (spoiler alert: England is not leading the way in best practice).
Your move: How to turn awareness into power
So the tool exists and public bodies must show they are using it ‒ sorted, right? Not quite. Too often EqIAs are treated as a cumbersome obligation, rather than the powerful tool for change they were meant to be. We see examples almost daily of where they have been done poorly, half-heartedly or not at all. Crucial sex-based impacts are frequently overlooked and women's experiences, especially where they have intersectional protected characteristics, are excluded from decision-making.
But here's the good news: You can change this. At FiLiA, our team is committed to giving you the tools and knowledge to:
Find existing EqIAs ‒ because you can't challenge what you can't see
Request new assessments when policies are being developed
Participate meaningfully in public consultations
Challenge inadequate analyses that ignore women's needs
Whether you're fighting for safer communities, fairer workplaces, better healthcare or any issue that matters to you, understanding EqIAs gives you concrete ways to make policy makers listen.
This is how we turn policy processes into real feminist action. When we combine our knowledge with our collective power, we can ensure policies actually work for us rather than against us.
The new FiLiA Women’s Assembly was created to amplify women’s voices, particularly those who are marginalised or less frequently heard. Through the Assembly we will support you to analyse policies through a feminist lens; present your experiences as crucial evidence; and hold decision-makers accountable when they fail to consider sex-based impacts. Look out for news on a series of workshops on using EqIAs which the FiLiA Women’s Assembly will be offering.
Ready to turn policy into power? Join us at the FiLiA Women's Assembly and let's create change that matters.