Caste discrimination happens in the UK but is not properly covered by our anti-discrimination laws. It exists as a concept in the Equality Act 2010, but the provisions have never been brought into force. This is in spite of the UK Government having been under a legal obligation to do precisely this since 2013, and the UN and Equality and Human Rights Commission both calling for this to happen.
A similar gap exists in Northern Ireland, which the Equality Commission has called for to be closed.
In depth
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 applies across Britain. When it was passed, it defined race as including ‘colour; nationality; ethnic or national origins.’ It did not include caste, but provided that ‘A Minister of the Crown may by order amend this section so as to provide for caste to be an aspect of race.’ Such an order has never been made, leaving a gap in the law.
In 2012, as part of the UK’s Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council, the UN recommended that the UK ‘Put in practice a national strategy to eliminate discrimination against caste, through the immediate adoption of the Equality Law of 2010 that prohibits such discrimination, in conformity with its international human rights obligations’.
In 2016, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination followed this up by ‘express[ing] concern that several provisions of the Equality Act 2010 have not yet been brought into legal effect, including Section 9(5)(a) on caste-based discrimination… [T]he State party should: Invoke Section 9(5)(a) of the Equality Act 2010 without further delay to ensure that caste-based discrimination is explicitly prohibited under law and that victims of this form of discrimination have access to effective remedies.’
2013 amendment and 2017–8 review
In 2013, an amendment was made to the Act, requiring the UK government to lay the order, and make caste discrimination a form of race discrimination. But the Government continued to stall. It finally consulted on the matter in 2017. And in 2018, the Government decided to instead rely on case law rather than legislation.
In the Government Equalities Office’s response to the consultation, it stated that because ‘legislating for caste is an exceptionally controversial issue… reliance on case-law and the scope for individuals to bring claims of caste discrimination under “ethnic origins” rather than “caste” itself, is likely to create less friction.’ But case law does not cover all the grounds that the Equality Act would if it was brought into force. The government instead said that it would repeal the law mandating that the order be made. In other words, continuing opposition from some Hindu groups led the government not to act. The opposition was on the basis that caste would then have to be declared on monitoring forms (which we don’t believe would be the case), and the complexity of defining hundreds of castes (which again we don’t believe would be necessary).
But the evidence from government-commissioned studies and campaign groups suggests that caste discrimination not only exists in the UK, it could adversely affect between 50,000 and 200,000 people.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission criticised the decision, saying ‘Victims of caste discrimination will continue to have limited legal protection by the government ruling out a change in the law and restricting the scope of protection to what can be interpreted through case law. The government has missed a crucial opportunity to improve legal clarity and has taken a step back by looking to repeal the duty to include caste as an aspect of race in the Equality Act 2010. This is inconsistent with the UK’s international obligations to provide for separate and distinct protection for caste in our legislation.’
No change since
Since then, the provisions requiring the order to be made have never been repealed. So the UK Government remains under a statutory duty to bring caste discrimination explicitly into the Equality Act, but has never done this.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland there is currently no legislation to protect against caste discrimination. There have been calls for this to change. For example, the Equality Commission responded to the Executive Office’s 2023 consultation on race equality law reform calling for the definitions of ‘race’ and ‘racial ground’ to be expanded and specifically include caste.
What we’re doing
The Equality Act 2010 provisions on caste discrimination should be brought into force and we continue to advocate for that outcome. We also believe equivalent legislation needs to be passed in Northern Ireland.
We support people who have left high-control religions through our programme, Faith to Faithless. That includes through its helpline. Sometimes they have experienced issues with caste discrimination and we support them with that.
Appendix: Past work on this issue
In 2017 we responded to the UK Government consultation and encouraged our members and supporters to do likewise. In 2018 we urged the Government to introduce proper legislation following its decision to instead rely on case law.
In 2014 we intervened at the UN Human Rights Council challenging caste discrimination in India.
In 2009 we supported Humanists International when it hosted the first ‘World Conference on Untouchability’ in London. This prompted questions in Parliament about government policy towards caste discrimination.