Government to Undertake Public Consultation on Caste Discrimination
The government has announced that is to undertake a full public consultation on the issue of caste and the Equality Act 2010.
The primary purpose of the consultation is to obtain views on whether additional measures are required to ensure victims of caste discrimination have appropriate legal protection and effective remedies under the EqA 2010.
Caste is not currently expressly prohibited by discrimination legislation and is not included as one of the protected characteristics in the EqA 2010. However, in the recent case of Chandhok and another v Tirkey the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the existing definition of 'race' within the EqA was wide enough to encompass caste.
The publication timetable for the consultation will be announced in due course.