The following characteristics are protected characteristics—
age;
disability;
gender reassignment;
marriage and civil partnership;
pregnancy and maternity;
race;
religion or belief;
sex;
sexual orientation.
Section 4: The protected characteristics
Equality Act 2010 (2010 c. 15)
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk as captured on 2026-07-13. Statute is amended over time — check the source below for the version in force. This is a reference, not legal advice.
View s.4 on legislation.gov.ukSource: legislation.gov.uk, Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.