This is when you are treated differently because of your sex, in certain situations covered by the Equality Act 2010.

The treatment could be a one-off action or could be caused by a rule or policy.

It doesn’t have to be intentional to be unlawful.

There are some circumstances when being treated differently due to sex is lawful. 

There are four main types of sex discrimination.

1. Direct discrimination

This happens when, because of your sex, someone treats you worse than someone of the opposite sex who is in a similar situation. For example:

• a nightclub offers free entry to women but charges men to get in

2. Indirect discrimination

Indirect discrimination happens when an organisation has a particular policy or way of working that applies in the same way to both sexes but which puts you at a disadvantage because of your sex. For example:

• An employer decides to change shift patterns for staff so that they finish at 5pm instead of 3pm. Female employees with caring responsibilities could be at a disadvantage if the new shift pattern means they cannot collect their children from school or childcare.

Indirect sex discrimination can be permitted if the organisation or employer is able to show that there is a good reason for the policy. This is known as objective justification.

Find out more about direct and indirect discrimination.  

3. Harassment

There are three types of harassment relating to sex.

The first type of harassment is the same for all of the protected characteristics. It is when someone makes you feel humiliated, offended or degraded.

For example:

• A manager makes comments that there is no point promoting women because they go off to have children. Even though he doesn't direct these comments at a particular female employee, one of his staff is very upset by this and worries about her career. This could be considered harassment.

The second type of harassment is called sexual harassment. This is when someone makes you feel humiliated, offended or degraded because they treat you in a sexual way. This is known as 'unwanted conduct of a sexual nature' and covers verbal and physical treatment, like sexual comments or jokes, touching, or assault. It also covers sending emails of a sexual nature, or putting up pornographic pictures.

For example:

• A university lecturer makes sexual jokes to one of his female students and implies that she will pass her exams if she sleeps with him.

The third type of harassment is when someone treats you unfairly because you refused to put up with sexual harassment.

For example:

• A manager invites one of his female employees home after they have been out for a drink. She declines. A couple of weeks later she is turned down for a promotion. She believes this is because she turned down her boss's proposition. 

It can also cover unfair treatment even if you had previously accepted sexual conduct.

For example:

• The employee above did have a brief relationship with her boss. After it ended, she applied for a promotion but was turned down. She believes this is because the relationship with her manager had ended.

Harassment can never be justified. However, if an organisation or employer can show it did everything it could to prevent people who work for it from behaving like that, you will not be able to make a claim for harassment against it, although you could make a claim against the harasser.

4. Victimisation

This is when you are treated badly because you have made a complaint of sex related discrimination under the Equality Act. It can also occur if you are supporting someone who has made a complaint of sex discrimination.

For example:

• A male colleague is helping a female co-worker with their claim of sex discrimination and makes a statement at an Employment Tribunal. The male colleague is then sacked or treated badly by their employer. This is victimisation because of sex.