What would you do if a visiting speaker requested gender segregation in the audience?

Universities UK recently published guidance that included a hypothetical case study exploring the legal considerations of an external speaker requesting gender segregation in the audience at an event. The case study suggested that voluntary segregation of the audience may be possible, and this caused controversy across the sector and within national media. How would your staff respond to such a request? 

The Equalith and Human Rights Commission  (EHRC) has said that it will work with Universities UK to improve the clarity of their guidance on external speakers. Mark Hammond, Chief Executive of EHRC, said that while a provider is entitled to provide services and facilities separately by gender where appropriate and lawful, for example accommodation or sports, ‘in an academic meeting or in a lecture open to the public it is not, in the Commission's view, permissible to segregate by gender.’ 

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