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# 2.1 The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 is a key piece of legislation in the UK designed to protect individuals from unfair treatment and promote a fair and more equal society. It consolidated numerous pieces of anti-discrimination legislation into a single Act, making the law easier to understand and apply. (GOV.UK, 2013)

The Act protects people based on nine protected characteristics, as seen in Figure 8 and listed below.

Figure 8: Equality Act 2010 nine protected characteristics

- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Sexual orientation
- Religion and belief
- Sex

The Equality Act 2010 states that providers of goods and services and employers should not discriminate - or offer inferior services or treatment - on the basis of a protected characteristic.

Age is one of these protected characteristics. This means that shops, GPs, hospitals, transport services, public toilets, colleges, universities and so on cannot discriminate against somebody based on their age.

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