Parity (charity)

Parity is a United Kingdom-based men's rights organisation,[1][2] which describes itself as campaigning to promote and protect the equality of men and women under the law.[3] Its main focus has been in the area of state pensions and associated benefits, and most of its notable successes have occurred in this field. The organisation was previously called Campaign for Equal State Pension Ages.

Parity
Founded 1986
Type Men's rights charity
Registration no. 1107795
Focus Gender equality, pensions, domestic violence, equal parenting, education, health
Location
  • Constables, Windsor Road, Ascot
Coordinates 51°25′10″N 0°40′44″W / 51.419484°N 0.678756°W / 51.419484; -0.678756
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
David Yarwood (Hon Secretary) 29 August 1986 todate, Chairmen: David Lindsay 1986-91; Maurice Oldfield 1991-98;John Mays 1998
Revenue
£2,724
Slogan Equal Rights for UK Men and Women
Mission To promote and protect the equal rights of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil, political, economic social and cultural rights under the law.
Website parity-uk.org
Formerly called
Campaign for Equal State Pension Ages

History

Parity was formed in 1986 as "Campaign for Equal State Pension Ages" (CESPA) [4] and its principal aim was to obtain for men the same state pension rights at age 60 as are enjoyed by women.[3] The organisation changed its name to "Parity" in 1997 to reflect growing concern regarding increased unequal treatment of men and women by the state.[5]

CESPA's inaugural meeting was held on 29 August 1986 in Committee Room 1 of Manchester Town Hall.The ten founder members were G.W. Alderton, D.Higgins, D.J.D Yarwood, J.H Bennett, E.L Anderson, J.Greenwood, M.D Davidson, J.Graham, D.G Lindsay, and J. Bradfield. The original Cespa constitution was agreed. The meeting appointed David Lindsay as Chairman, Geoff Alderton as Vice-Chairman, David Yarwood as Hon Secretary and John Bennett as Treasurer.[6]

Parity was denied charitable status for a number of years because it was seeking changes in the law to redress statutory sex discrimination, and thus was deemed to be political.[7] It finally gained charitable status in 2005 following a change to the Human Rights Act.[3]

Organisation

The organisation is run entirely by volunteers and receives no public funding.[8] It had an income of £2,724 in 2009.[9]

In its constitution it states its objectives are "to promote and protect the equal rights of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil, political, economic social and cultural rights under the law" and "to institute proceedings in the UK or appropriate European Courts for the purpose of establishing or protecting any such equal rights."[10]

Achievements

Parity has had some highly notable successes over the years, particularly in addressing sex discrimination against men by the government. Their campaigns have stopped government sex discrimination which had illegally denied hundreds of millions of pounds to males between the ages of 60-65.[11]

Successes have so far occurred in four main areas: prescription charges, winter fuel payments, bus travel concessions and widower's benefits.

Prescription charges

Parity's first major success began in 1993 under its original name, when CESPA member Cyril Richardson, an asthmatic, took the government to court over sex discrimination in entitlement for free prescriptions.[12][13] Eventually, in 1995 the European Court ruled that it was unlawful to charge men aged 60–65 for prescriptions when they were free to women. As a result, men now benefit to the tune of an estimated £30 million per annum. Additionally, £10 million in charges was refunded to those who had wrongly paid for prescriptions in the previous 3 months before the ruling.[14][15]

Winter fuel payments

In 1998 Parity member John Taylor went to the High Court to contest the fact that the government was denying winter fuel payments to men aged 60–65 that women were able to receive. It was argued that this was a breach of European laws on equality in social security,[16] and that such discrimination was blatant and unjustifiable.[11][17] The case was referred to the European Court of Justice who ruled in Mr Taylor's favour in December 1999.[11] The ruling meant up to £26 million per annum in benefits being given to men that otherwise would have been denied.[18]

Bus travel concessions

In 2000 Parity took the Government to the European Court of Human Rights over the fact that it denied free bus travel to men aged 60–65.[19][20] Despite Parity's previous successes, the government had refused to end discrimination in this area.[21] However, in June 2001 it became clear that Parity would win the case if it went to court and the government relented, with John Prescott announcing men would receive free bus passes from age 60. Controversially, Prescott hailed the move as "another example of the Government providing extra help for pensioners" whereas it had effectively been forced into the move by the European Court of Justice.[22] The Travel Concessions (Eligibility) Bill finally passed in 2003 resulting in males receiving the £50 million per annum in benefits that the state had unfairly denied them.[13][23]

Widowers benefits

Parity campaigned to end sexism in the payment of widows benefits and bereavement tax allowances. These were previously only paid to women and not men. The campaign achieved success in 2001 as a result the benefits are now available to both genders.[4][24]

Domestic violence statistics

In 2008 Parity campaigned to stop the Crown Prosecution Service making false statements that the "overwhelming" majority of domestic violence victims were women. With the aid of the UK Statistics Authority the organisation succeeded and the incorrect claims were removed.[25][26] The organisation also forced Gillian Morgan of the Welsh Assembly to stop making the same claims in the "Strategic Action Plan to Address Violence to Women".[27]

Current campaigns

Parity's main current campaign is to equalise the state pension ages for men and women in the United Kingdom.[28] Currently this is not due to take place until 2020.

Other objectives include:[29]

Supporters

A number of politicians from several major parties actively support Parity. Lord Raglan is Parity's President, and the vice presidents include Winifred Ewing MSP, Hilton Dawson, Baroness Sally Hamwee, and Diana Wallis.[3] Previous vice presidents include Gwyneth Dunwoody.[30]

References

  1. Campbell, Dennis (4 Sep 2010). "More than 40% of domestic violence victims are male, report reveals". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 Aug 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  2. "'If I left her, I would be killed'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 Aug 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Parity - Campaigning for equal rights for UK men and women
  4. 1 2 BBC NEWS | Business | Threat to National Insurance increase
  5. hertsdirect.org Pensions
  6. http://www.parity-uk.org/history_of_cespa1.php
  7. Parity & Equal rights for men - Mankind | HighBeam Research - FREE trial
  8. Parity - Campaigning for equal rights for UK men and women
  9. Charity-commission.gov.uk
  10. Parity - Campaigning for equal rights for UK men and women
  11. 1 2 3 BBC News | UK | Winter fuel payments 'sexist'
  12. Equal rights for men at the chemist's - Article - TES Connect
  13. 1 2 The Travel Concessions (Eligibility) Bill [HL] Bill 38 of 2001-02
  14. The textbook of pharmaceutical medicine - Google Books
  15. Men can have free prescriptions at 60 - 311 (7013): 1118 - bmj.com
  16. BBC News | UK | Winter fuel case goes to Europe
  17. Winter fuel cash cheats men, says court chief - News - The Independent
  18. BBC News | UK Politics | Fuel payments ruling due
  19. Postman leads fight to change bus pass policy
  20. Well Done Parity! One million men set to benefit from equal travel concessions - Male View | HighBeam Research - FREE trial
  21. Ministers fight free bus pass for men at 60 - UK Politics, UK - The Independent
  22. Men over 60 to be eligible for free bus passes - Telegraph
  23. BBC NEWS | Business | End to 'sexist' bus fares
  24. BBC NEWS | Business | Widowers besiege Europe with benefit claims
  25. Statisticsauthority.gov.uk
  26. Statisticsauthority.gov.uk
  27. Statisticsauthority.gov.uk
  28. Parity - Campaigning for equal rights for UK men and women
  29. Parity - Campaigning for equal rights for UK men and women
  30. PoliticalWizard 4.0
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