Protected characteristics
The Equality Act 2010 came into force in October 2010, replacing all existing anti-discrimination laws and extending protection across a number of “protected characteristics”.
These protected characteristics are:
- Race
- Sex
- Disability
- Age
- Sexual orientation
- Religion or belief
- Gender reassignment
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Marriage and partnership
We've also specifically added service and ex-service personnel, those who are care experienced and those with caring responsibilities to our list of protected characteristics for the borough of Rochdale. The act applies across a range of services and public functions including local government.
Data on protected characteristics in the borough
We collect equality and diversity data for the borough of Rochdale. Our approach to this is supported by the collection and analysis of data from a variety of sources.
We report on the protected characteristics which are listed in the Equality Act 2010 section above. Some data is incredibly hard to collect. This could be because data isn't collected nationally or as a single approved source. We have to be flexible and inventive around what we can gather and how we use it.
Here's a brief look at the breakdown of protected characteristics in the borough: