The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) was an independent
non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of ...
(NDPB) in the United Kingdom, which tackled sex discrimination and promoted gender equality. Its last chair was
Jenny Watson.
It was set up under the
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (c. 65) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which protected men and women from discrimination on the grounds of sex or marital status. The Act concerned employment, training, education, harassmen ...
and had statutory powers to help enforce this Act, the Equal Pay Act and other
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...
that existed in Britain. Due to the ability of the
Scottish Parliament and
Welsh Assembly
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh ...
to vary the law in this area, separate EOC sub-agencies existed for
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. The EOC did not cover Northern Ireland, where instead these matters were dealt with by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
Similar agencies existed for other categories of equality law in England, Scotland and Wales. In October 2007, these all became part of a new single equality body, the
Equality and Human Rights Commission.
See also
*
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...
*
Disability Rights Commission
External links
Catalogue of the EOC archivesheld at the
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Defunct non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government
Gender equality
1975 establishments in the United Kingdom
Gender in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in Manchester
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