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Gender and Sexual Orientation (Adoption (Study Mellish and colleagues…
Gender and Sexual Orientation
What is Gender?
There are two sexes: male and female - this is for biological anatomy.
These are the two genders which is masculine and feminine which refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women
Intersex - external sex organs that are not easily identifiable or sex chromosomes that are different from the usual XX (female) and XY (male)
Transgender - gender identity that does not match the assigned sex
Gender neutral/non-binary genders - gender identities that do not fit within the accepted binary of male and female. People who are both, neither or a mixture
Gender Equality 1800's
Custody of the Child Act 1839 - if a marriage broke down and parents separated, children under seven should stay with their mothers
Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 - allowed women to divorce their husbands who were cruel or who had ,eft them (but not just for adultery)
Custody of Infants 1873 - allowed the court of chancery to order that a mother would have access to, or custody of, any infants under the age of 16
1891 - women cannot be forced to live with their husbands
Guardianship of InfantsAct 1925 - mothers given equal custody of children
The matrimonial Causes Act 1937 - made divorces easier particularly for women
Gender Equality 1900s
Women's Vote
Representation of the People Act 1918 - enfranchising women over the age of thirty who met minimum property qualifications - 8.4 million women gained a vote
The Representation of the People Act 1928 - extended the voting ability to all women over the age of 21, granting women the vote on the same terms as men
Employment
Women at ford factory protested over equal pay, almost stopped the production of all Ford Uk Plants. Leading to the Equal Pay Act 1970 which made it illegal to pay women less than men for the same job
Employment Protection Act 1975 - made it illegal to dismiss someone on the grounds of pregnancy and established maternity leave
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 - made it illegal to discriminate against women in education, employment and training
Gender Equality 21st Century
Equality Act 2010
Confided numerous acts and regulations which formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in Great Britain including: equal pay act; sex discrimination act; race relations act; disability discrimination act
This protects discrimination in employment on grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation, race, disability and age. It requires equal treatment in access to employment, private and public services
There are still women being paid less for the same jobs as males as there is not full transparency of wages
Section 78 on the Equality Act 2010 - voluntary scheme for gender pay reporting in the private and voluntary sector is not mandatory
Case Example in 2010 - female workers at Birmingham council paid thousands less than their male counterparts for 26 years, the women were not aware at first
Male Inequalities
Employment
Case study 2011
Takeover by a new company. Company took him of a roaster which allowed him to look after his daughter who had serious health problems (same shifts). On the new roster he has unstable work hours. Appealed to employers and lost
The changes to the rosters was that the number of drivers on the more flexible roster was reduced 13 to 7. Of those seven who remain three were men and four women. No women were taken of the flexible roster
Three men and one women applied to be placed for the first time on the more flexible roster, the female was the only one who was successful
Sex discrimination awarded £5,000 over flexible working withdrawal
Paternity Pay and Leave
Paternity leave - time take off because your partner is having a baby or adopting a child
Ordinary paternity leave - 1 or 2 weeks paid ordinary leave. Criteria is that you must tell your employer at least 15 weeks before the week the baby is expected
Additional paternity leave - up to 26 paid additional paternity leave but only if the mother or co-adopter returns to work
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence committed against women by men ignored and under reported. Encounter pressure against reporting as they will face social stigma regarding their perceived lack of masculinity
Male victims judge to have allowed themselves to be beaten by a women. This is based upon the general rule that men are physically stronger than women and should be able to prevent any kind of violence
Campaigners for the legal system to be educated on women violence against men and shelters for male victims of domestic violence. Only a limited number of refuge places are available to men
Sexual Orientation
Equality
Sexual orientation discrimination is when you are being treated less favourably because: you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or straight; people think you are ones of those categories; you associate with those people
The law applied to direct and indirect discrimination as well as to harassment and victimisation
Laws
The sexual Offences Act 1967 - the buggery act 1553 had said that same sex acts were punishable by death, this said it wasn't if certain conditions were met: act had to be consensual; have to take place in private; participants have to be older than 21
Sexual Offences Act - in 1994 the age of consent was reduced to 18. Then in the amendment in 2000 consent was lowered to 16.
Sexual offences act 2003 - came into force in 2004; removed previous sex-specific legislation including the sexual offences act 1967 so having to be in private was removed
Section 28
In 1988 the local government act included prohibiting "the international promotion of homosexuality" by any local authorities and "the teaching in any maintained schools on the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship"
A move to remove the provision in England and Wales was prevented following opposition in the House of Lords led by Baroness Young. After her death in 2002 it was repealed by the labour government in a new local government act which took force in 2003
Same Sex Relationships
Marriage Act 1949 - defined marriage as between men and women
The Nullity of Marriage Act 1971 - explicitly banned same sex marriage
Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 - reiterated the provisions of the Nullity of Marriage Act
Civil Partnerships Act 2004
There was no legal recognition of the same sex relationships in Britain until 2005
In 2005 same sex couples were granted the right to enter into a civil partnership
Civil partnerships have similar structure to marriage. Civil partnerships can take place on any approved premise in the Uk and in approved religious venues. They cannot include religious readings, music and symbols
The Marriage (same sex couples) Act 2013 - same sex marriage is now legal in England. Came into force 13th March. Controversially there're still campaigns against it
Gay Marriage- Divorce Inequalities
The common law definition of adultery remains sexual intercourse between man and a woman only
Infidelity with a person of the same sex can be grounds for a divorce as 'unreasonable behavour'
Non-Consumption is also excluded as grounds for an annulment of a same sex marriage
Adoption
Adoption of children act 2002 - an application to adopt a child in England and Waled could be made by either a single gay person or a gay couple. Came into effect in 2005. It took three years as concerns: children adopted by same sex couples would face bullying from peers; the children's own gender identity might be skewed by being raised by parents of the same sex
Since 2007 it has been unlawful for providers of goods and services to discriminate against people because of there sexual orientation which includes adopting and fostering
Each year 4,000 children look for adoptive families. Same sex couples still remain a small proportion of the total number of adopters
National statistics show that annually around 60 children are adopted by gay couples and a further 60 by lesbian couples.
Some gay and lesbian singles and couples who would like to adopt in the UK report they are not being treated the same as heterosexual couples
The number of adoptions by lesbians and gay men is now at 6% of children which is a rise over 50% from the previous year (Adoption UK 2014)
Study Mellish and colleagues (BAAF,2013)
54% of gay fathers and 75% of lesbian mothers felt they had experienced some negativity
"We had a bit of a tricky experience because we had a social worker who said "i've come to assess you because nobody else wanted to because you are gay""
For some they did not experience any explicit prejudice, homophobia might have been latent behind the scenes as they reported that they were often the last to be matched with a child
Family Planning
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 : allows lesbian access in IVF or assisted self-insemination; the non-birth mother in civil partnerships or married to birth mother will automatically be legal parent; the non-birth mother who is no t in civil partnership or married to birth mother will also be legal parent but only if the child conceives in a licensed clinic and both sign consent forms
Came into force in 2009 , does not apply before that date. Parental orders for gay mend their partners since 2010 have been available for surrogacy arrangements