Religious organizations and the impact of human rights and equality laws in England and Wales.
Abstract
The framework for equality and the multiple aspects of identity that are protected in law, including on the basis of religion and belief, are continuously being redefined and reshaped through ongoing legal claims in England and Wales. In this article, we examine how religious organizations view equality and the extent to which different identity rights can be protected. We conducted a survey of religious organizations in England and Wales to examine attitudes and experiences in relation to changes in the equality laws. We found that equality is variously understood and many religious organizations give only limited recognition to certain legally protected characteristics including gender, sexual orientation and also the identities of other religious organizations. If the integration of equality in the form of identity rights is to be fully achieved within the legal framework of a liberal democratic state and alongside so-called British values, both religious and non-religious citizens alike need to take a greater responsibility for the understanding and recognition of identity differences. Equalities legislation is creating a constitutional framework for citizenship and it is important this new citizenship is structured around equality in practice at the individual and organizational level.Citation
Purdam, K, Cheruvallil-Contractor, S, Ghanea, N.& Weller, P.2017, 'Religious organizations and the impact of human rights and equality laws in England and Wales' Politics, Religion and Ideology, vol 18, no. 1, pp. 73-88. DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2017.1297235Journal
Politics, Religion and IdeologyDOI
10.1080/21567689.2017.1297235Additional Links
https://pure.coventry.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/13260077/ROMainArticleDec172016F.pdfType
ArticleISSN
2156-7689ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1080/21567689.2017.1297235