EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION POLICY
1. Purpose and Scope
Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our work — as an employer, legal service provider, charity, and community partner.
We aim for our trustees, staff, volunteers, and clients to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. Everyone we engage with — including clients, staff, volunteers, contractors and partner organisations — should be treated fairly, with dignity and respect, and have equal opportunity to contribute and thrive.
This policy applies to:
All staff, trustees, volunteers, and interns
Job applicants
Clients and service users
Consultants, suppliers, barristers, solicitors and partner organisations
Visitors and members of the public interacting with our services
It ensures compliance with the Equality Act 2010, Charities Act 2011, and the Legal Aid Agency’s Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) standards.
2. Legal and Regulatory Framework
This policy is based on the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the following protected characteristics:
Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins)
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation
We also comply with relevant charity law and the SQM standards, which require that our policies and procedures promote equality of opportunity, accessibility, and fairness in employment and service delivery.
3. Policy Statement
CWJ is committed to:
Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
Promoting equality of opportunity for all.
Fostering a culture of dignity, respect and inclusion.
Making reasonable adjustments for disabled staff, volunteers and clients.
Ensuring fair access to services and opportunities.
Continuously improving our equality practice through training, consultation and monitoring.
In providing our services, facilities and activities, we will not discriminate unlawfully against service users, beneficiaries, or members of the public.
We extend our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion to all external relationships. This includes clients and potential clients, solicitors, barristers, contractors, community partners, and any other organisations we collaborate with. All collaborative work will be conducted in a fair, non-discriminatory, and inclusive manner, consistent with our EDI principles.
Any breach of this policy is likely to be treated as a serious disciplinary offence and may result in disciplinary action, including summary dismissal where appropriate.
4. Equality in Employment and Volunteering
We aim to create a workplace and volunteer environment where all individuals are valued and supported.
We will ensure that all forms of unlawful discrimination are avoided in:
Recruitment and selection
Pay, benefits and terms and conditions
Parental leave and flexible working requests
Training, promotion and career development
Grievance, disciplinary and performance procedures
Redundancy, redeployment and dismissal
Specific commitments:
Recruitment: Decisions will be based on merit, ability and qualifications. Recruitment materials and processes will be designed to reach a wide, diverse audience.
Training and Development: All employees and volunteers will receive regular equality, diversity and inclusion training, including unconscious bias and disability awareness.
Reasonable Adjustments: In line with the Equality Act 2010, we have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled employees, volunteers and clients are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with those who are not disabled.
Harassment and Bullying: We maintain a workplace free from bullying, harassment and victimisation. Any complaint will be treated confidentially and investigated fairly.
Monitoring: We collect and review equality data on staff, volunteers and trustees to identify and address potential inequalities.
5. Equality in Service Delivery
We are committed to providing fair, accessible and inclusive services for all clients and members of the public.
We will:
Ensure that all client-facing activities and facilities are accessible to everyone.
Provide information to our clients in accessible formats (e.g., large print, Braille, Easy Read, community languages).
Offer interpretation and translation services when required.
Make reasonable adjustments for clients with disabilities or additional needs.
Provide equality training for all staff and volunteers involved in client service.
Monitor and analyse service-user data to identify barriers to access and address them.
Regularly consult with community groups, partner agencies and clients to ensure our services meet diverse needs.
We recognise that transgender women are discriminated against on account of sex and gender stereotyping. Both transgender women and transgender men are also subject to discrimination, violence, and hate crime on account of their transgender status. As an organisation our core services and activities are directed at assisting and promoting the interests of biological women, as defined under the Equality Act 2010. CWJ is committed to treating transgender people respectfully and empathetically and we have and will assist transgender women and transgender men to obtain justice and challenge discrimination, including through referral to partner agencies.
Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion applies equally to our relationships with external organisations, including community partners, solicitors, barristers, and consultants/contractors. We will ensure that collaborative work upholds our principles of fairness, accessibility, and non-discrimination.
7. Responsibilities
All employees have a responsibility for their own actions and should ensure that by commission or omission they do not infringe this policy.
Nic Mainwood, Director of Finance and Operations is responsible for this policy and specifically ensuring that:
Management:-
Not discriminate in its decision-making processes.
Not participate in discriminatory behaviour or behave in a way that is capable of being interpreted as harassment.
Discourage employees under their control from participating in discriminatory or harassing behaviour.
Bring to employees’ attention that any participation in discriminatory or harassing behaviour will be treated as a disciplinary offence which in its most serious form is considered to be Gross-misconduct.
Employees:-
Assist management to uphold the Equal Opportunities Policy.
Not behave towards their fellow employees, customers or any other person in a discriminatory or harassing manner.
Not encourage others to behave in a discriminatory or harassing manner. o Report any discrimination or harassment to management
8. Breaches and Complaints
Any breach of this policy will be treated seriously.
Staff and Volunteers: Breaches may lead to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
Clients and Service Users: Complaints regarding discrimination, harassment or accessibility will be handled under the charity’s Complaints Procedure.
All Parties: No individual will suffer victimisation or detriment for raising a concern or complaint in good faith.
An outline of the procedure for making an internal complaint and how it will be handled is set out in the charity’s Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure.
9. Monitoring and Review
Equality data for staff, volunteers and service users will be reviewed at least annually.
The policy will be reviewed every three years, or earlier if there are changes in law or practice.
“Last reviewed” and “Next review due” dates will be displayed on the policy front page.
10. Continuous Improvement
We will:
Encourage open discussion of equality issues.
Share good practice across teams and departments.
Embed equality objectives into strategic and operational plans.
Learn from feedback, audits and evaluations to improve access and inclusion.
UPDATED: November 2025