Universities UK seeks legal backing over gender segregation guidance

Protesters against gender segregation outside the offices of Universities Uk this month. Photograph: Peter Marshall/Demotix/Corbis

Universities United kingdom has asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission to seek out a legal ruling on its published advice permitting the voluntarily segregation of guys and ladies at campus occasions.

In a statement the organisation, which represents much more than 130 higher education institutions, stated it needed a definitive legal view on the situation in the wake of a debate which saw University UK’s London headquarters targeted by pupil protesters this week.

It said: “Provided the continuing public concern we have nowadays written to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to request that they think about getting the issue clarified by the large court or offer a clear and public statement about the law and the appropriate policy concerns in this area.”

It reiterated that its tips to member institutions on no matter whether it was legally permissible for outside speakers, for example from hardline religious groups, to request audiences be voluntarily split by gender was meant purely as a legal framework. It additional that Universities Uk had because sought an outside legal opinion from the senior barrister Fenella Morris QC, which concluded that the suggestions was “an acceptable foundation for lawful decision-making by universities”.

The controversy started last month when Universities Uk launched a lengthy document for members covering the numerous legal issues around internet hosting external speakers including how to balance the rights to cost-free speech against other considerations.

A single of the illustrative situation studies took the instance of an ultra-orthodox religious group invited to talk as portion of a wider series of talks on faith, in which the speaker has requested the audience be segregated on gender grounds. The advice says that if, for instance, women and males have been seated separately side by side rather than males at the front and females at the back there would not necessarily be any gender inequality, and voluntary segregation could be permitted.

The guidance prompted significant criticism, each from person college students and groups such as Student Rights, which campaigns against extremism on campuses. It published research earlier this 12 months saying that radical preachers spoke at 180 university occasions in the 12 months to March 2013, and that segregation was advertised or implied at much more than a quarter of them.

Earlier this week a group of campaigners staged a protest outside the offices of Universities Uk in Bloomsbury, central London, demanding the organisation rethink its advice.

Universities Uk has insisted that its November document was purely hypothetical advice, and did not in any way advertise or motivate gender segregation.

In its statement the group stated: “It is intended to give practical help to universities in generating decisions about who they pick to invite to talk on campus, steering them through all the distinct considerations, legal and otherwise, that apply. Universities are independent institutions and will make selections themselves on a situation-by-situation basis.”

However, the furore intensified soon after Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities United kingdom, argued on Thursday that segregation on the basis of gender was not fully “alien to our culture”.

Asked by BBC Radio 4′s Nowadays programme about the distinction in between even voluntary gender segregation and doing some thing equivalent on the grounds of race, Dandridge stated: “It is attainable for females to decide on to be educated in an all-women environment. It’s not some thing which is so alien to our culture that it has to be regarded like race segregation, which is totally diverse and it is unlawful and there’s no doubt about that whatsoever.”

However, she stressed that any separation would have to be totally voluntary: “What is quite unpleasant about this argument is you are assuming that we have the appropriate to impose views on participants. If the participants say this is how they want it to be, it is not appropriate for us to disregard their views. If men and women truly feel more comfortably about sitting individually, and which is invariably the situation that will arise in these situations, then universities have to listen to those views.

“We are not speaking about educating, lectures, the core company of universities. This certain case research is extremely certain: it’s talking about an occasion to examine faith in the present day world in the course of a series of lectures about various approaches to religion.”

She stated that this kind of separation was allowed only if it did not cause disadvantage: “What the law says is that segregation on the grounds of gender might or might not be a disadvantage. What this situation research is exploring is when it could be a disadvantage and in which it may not be. In conditions the place the audience is saying that they desire to sit in distinct groups then we are saying that universities should respect their views delivering – and this is critical – supplying that there is no disadvantage to either males or women.”

Chuka Umunna, the shadow organization secretary, whose quick will take in larger schooling, told Nowadays he was “horrified by what I heard … allow me be definitely clear, a future Labour government would not allow or tolerate segregation in our universities.

“It offends standard norms in our society. Of course people should be free of charge to practise their religion privately in spots of worship and at religious events. But universities are publicly funded spots of investigation, understanding and educating and, as this kind of, there is no area in my see for state-sponsored segregation.”

Universities UK seeks legal backing over gender segregation guidance

Gender segregation not "alien to our culture", says Universities UK chief

Nicola Dandridge said: ‘If people feel more comfortably about sitting separately, and that’s invariably the situation that will arise in these cases, then universities have to listen to those views.’ Photograph: Geoff Wilson

Gender segregation is not completely “alien to our culture”, the leader of a universities organisation said as she defended controversial guidance on the voluntary separation of men and women at events on campus.

Nicola Dandridge, the chief executive of Universities UK, insisted that institutions would not enforce segregation but if participants were happy to sit in separate groups that would be permitted as long as there was no disadvantage.

The row over segregation has sparked protests from students, and the shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, said he was “horrified” by Universities UK’s position.

Last month a Universities UK report presented some hypothetical case studies that come up on campuses, including whether a speaker from an ultra-orthodox religious group requests an audience is segregated by gender.

The report states that university officials must consider both freedom of speech obligations and discrimination and equality laws when considering such a request.

It says that if officials decide to proceed with an event with segregation, they must consider whether a seating plan would be discriminatory to one gender.

For instance if women were forced to sit at the back of the room it could prove harder for them to participate in the debate and could be discriminatory for the female attendees.

But it goes on to say that if side-by-side seating were enforced without offering an alternative non-segregated seating area, it could be deemed as discriminatory against men or women who hold feminist beliefs.

Dandridge told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “We are not talking about universities enforcing segregation. One of the questions that runs through our case study which illustrates this questions is: ‘Is this segregation voluntary, have the people who are likely to come to this event agreed to the segregation?’

“That is something that would be fundamentally important to the university in making a decision. In practice if the people coming to this event said: ‘We do not want to segregate and separate out men and women’ it is inconceivable that the university would impose it on them.

“What we are talking about in practice is voluntary segregation and that’s what happens in practice if people participating choose.”

Rejecting comparisons to racial segregation, she said: “It is possible for women to choose to be educated in an all-women environment. It’s not something which is so alien to our culture that it has to be regarded like race segregation, which is totally different and it’s unlawful and there’s no doubt about that whatsoever.”

She said that a university would prevent an event going ahead if there was pressure being put on women to sit in certain places.

Dandridge added: “What is very uncomfortable about this argument is you are assuming that we have the right to impose views on participants. If the participants say this is how they want it to be, it is not appropriate for us to disregard their views.

“If people feel more comfortably about sitting separately, and that’s invariably the situation that will arise in these cases, then universities have to listen to those views.

“We are not talking about teaching, lectures, the core business of universities. This particular case study is very specific: it’s talking about an event to discuss faith in the modern world in the course of a series of lectures about different approaches to religion.”

She said she was happy to publish legal advice and added: “What the law says is that segregation on the grounds of gender may or may not be a disadvantage. What this case study is exploring is when it may be a disadvantage and where it may not be.

“In circumstances where the audience is saying that they prefer to sit in different groups then we are saying that universities should respect their views providing – and this is critical – providing that there is no disadvantage to either men or women.”

“This is about ensuring that everyone has the right to sit where they want, including those who wish to sit in separate areas. That element of voluntary choice is really critical, it’s not a question of imposing views on students here.”

Umunna told Today a future Labour government would outlaw segregation on campus.

He said: “I was horrified by what I heard … let me be absolutely clear, a future Labour government would not allow or tolerate segregation in our universities.

“It offends basic norms in our society. Of course people should be free to practise their religion privately in places of worship and at religious events.

“But universities are publicly funded places of research, learning and teaching and, as such, there is no place in my view for state-sponsored segregation.”

Gender segregation not "alien to our culture", says Universities UK chief