Losing focus: Women’s charities and the UK Supreme Court ruling

Women’s charities and the UK Supreme Court ruling

Our latest report focuses on charities whose objects, as set out in their governing documents, state that they should benefit solely women and/or girls, or that their beneficiaries must be female.

The report details how some women’s charities have lost sight of their charitable objects over recent years. It identifies a range of charities set up specifically to benefit women that have extended their reach to include men who identify as women. These cover a range of charitable activities and delivery models, including: service provision, charitable associations, advocacy or campaigning charities, educational charities and award or prize-giving charities. We also show how funders can create pressure on charities to apply a definition of ‘woman’ that extends to men who identify as women, which is not compatible with the Supreme Court ruling, including by setting formal conditions on funding.

Regardless of the clarity provided by the Supreme Court’s ruling, we found little evidence that women’s charities that had expanded their services in this way have reversed their policies. Regulators too have been slow to respond to the ruling, insisting that they cannot act or provide clarity for those working in the sector until they have received guidance from government or the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The analysis is underpinned by a specially commissioned legal opinion, prepared by Karon Monaghan KC. This clarifies that where a charity’s purposes are restricted to benefitting women, they are not permitted to extend those charitable benefits to men, whether or not they have done so in the past. The full legal opinion is included as an appendix to the report and can also be downloaded below.

The report is intended as a resource for women concerned about these charities losing sight of their purpose, including service users and their advocates, and for trustees and staff who have felt isolated and unsupported in raising concerns about that. It should interest trustees of women’s charities, and their funders. It also includes important messages for those charged with regulating the charitable sector.

We hope it will be a catalyst for change in the sector, and a resource for those in it who face an uphill battle in making a small but essential group of charities refocus on their duty to benefit women.

The full report can be downloaded here.

The legal opinion prepared by Karon Monaghan KC can be downloaded here.

The press release is here.