The iEHRC (independent Equality and Human Rights Commission), established by Dr Natacha Kennedy of the Feminist Gender Equality Network (FGEN) aims to provide an alternative to the present EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission).
The EHRC has been the subject of intense scrutiny over its position on trans rights. Trans rights campaigners have frequently called out their alleged bias towards anti-trans rhetoric and policy, commenting that they prioritise anti-trans groups and ignore the views of trans people and trans rights organistions.
A compromised EHRC
Dr Kennedy is completely disillusioned with the EHRC. She explains her views:
“The EHRC is supposed to be independent and to support equality and human rights for everyone. In my opinion it is not doing that. So in the same way that Independent SAGE was set up when people lost confidence in Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic, my aim is to establish an Independent EHRC. The current EHRC is, in my view, compromised, corrupt, not at all independent and completely unfit for purpose. We the people therefore need to set up our own.”
The EHRC decided to reverse trans rights in 2025
In April 2025 the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously that “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex.
Following this judgement the EHRC quickly put out an interim guidance that advised businesses on how to comply with the ruling. The guidance stated that single sex-spaces should only be used by people of the corresponding biological (at birth) sex.
This interim guidance led to a huge public outcry, as many deemed it unworkable and unfair treatment of trans people. It was also argued that it could negatively impact on the safety of some cisgender (people whose gender matches their birth sex) women.
Following the release of the guidance many trans people faced discrimination and harassment, and the interim guidance was later withdrawn.
In late 2025 the EHRC sent an amended Code of Practice (update to the Equality Act 2010 sections relating to gender reassignment) to parliament to be signed off by the equalities minister (not yet signed). The update is expected to closely mirror the interim guidance.
It can therefore be reasonably argued that the EHRC does not fully conform to the UN Paris Principles. They appear to fall short in the requirements to promote and protect all human rights, along with representing all aspects of society.
In October 2025 the LGBTQIA + groups TransActual, Amnesty International, Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, the Equality Network, Scottish Trans, and the Trans Advocacy & Complaints Collective (TACC) called on the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) to launch an immediate investigation into the regulator, which they said is “not fit for purpose”.
These groups want the EHRC to lose its A status as a national institution because of what they described as “an obsessive campaign to strip trans people of our basic rights”.
Dr Kennedy lost faith in the EHRC
Dr Kennedy criticises the new head of the EHRC, Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, for consorting with an anti-trans campaign group:
“One of the first things the new head of the EHRC did was arrange to meet a group that campaigns against equality and human rights for trans people. She said people should ‘judge me on what I do’.”
Dr Kennedy has lost all trust in the organisation. She does not believe they will uphold and protect people’s human rights. She views both the EHRC and the UK government as actively removing human rights and freedoms. She feels the EHRC no longer presents a proequality view and is in danger of abandoning all its human rights principles. She also feels that the UK government is pulling away from the idea of equal human rights for everyone.
“They are threatening our rights to protest, to free speech, to freedom of assembly, to privacy and family life. They seem to me to want to water down human rights for all of us and pave the way for a right wing government aligned with Trump…”
Dr Kennedy’s views shared by other human rights groups
Amnesty International UK’s gender justice programme director Chiara Capraro has previously criticised the EHRC. She feels the EHRC has for several years “unhelpfully pitted the rights of women and trans people against each other. Its proposals for a code of practice would mandate services to violate trans people’s right to privacy and dignity. Cis people would be affected too, especially cis women who present as gender non-conforming.”
Vic Valentine (they/them), policy manager at Scottish Trans Alliance believes:
“We should be able to rely on our national human rights institution to protect and promote the rights of everyone. Right now, we face the real possibility of trans people being excluded and segregated from services and workplaces on a daily basis. Instead of the EHRC trying to prevent that, they are actually pushing to make it happen.”
Mission statement
The iEHRC published their mission statement on their Bluesky page. The statement reads:
“The mission of the iEHRC will be to protect & further the rights of all protected characteristics & marginalised groups, including those with intersecting characteristics.
“It will be independent of the government, the establishment and mainstream media, as well as all anti-rights groups or individuals.
“The iEHRC regards human rights of ALL people as benefiting ALL people and wants to recruit members to act as commissioners on the understanding that they fully support the rights of all people, and that removing human rights harms all people.
“Furthermore the iEHRC is established to campaign for a new politics that rejects the narratives of division and works to improve the lives of everyone in the UK and beyond.”
Dr Kennedy is looking for people to help with the new iEHRC
When asked how people can help support the iEHRC, Dr Kennedy responds with:
“I am looking for people who can help me do this. People who can help with organisation and management, people who can help with comms/PR and set up a website and social media presence and manage that, researchers etc. I am also looking for people who can represent all the protected characteristics including class, which was removed from the Equality Act by David Cameron. I especially would like to have people with legal qualifications, academics and those with experience working and campaigning in the areas of EDI, equalities and human rights.
“I need people who can form a working group to establish terms of reference and operating principles. I need everyone on board to be fully supportive of everyone else’s human rights. Make no mistake, ALL our human rights are under threat in this country, we all need to work together to protect them.
“People campaigning for the rights of people and children with SEND would also be welcome.”
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