Women demand ‘sexist’ DVLA axes Mrs from licences
‘Doesn’t affect my ability to drive’
THE DVLA was embroiled in a sexism row yesterday over complaints that women are forced to use titles on driving licences – but men aren’t.
Two female motorists hit out after they were listed as ‘Mrs’ on their documents even though they had asked not to.
Ashley Kent and colleague Elin Roberts, who are both scientists, say the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency doesn’t need to know their gender.
Men, by contrast, are not obliged to have ‘Mr’ on their driving licences.
Last night both women said they deserved to be treated the same way as men and urged the Government agency to ‘get with the times’.
Mrs Roberts, 40, said: ‘My main gripe is that men don’t have a title on their licences but women must. This is an equality issue.
‘Why do they even need to know my gender? It doesn’t affect my ability to drive. It is something that is, in my opinion, irrelevant.’
Mrs Kent, a 35-year-old geneticist from Newcastle upon Tyne, said she opted for ‘no title’ on her licence when she contacted the DVLA to change her address. But when the document arrived it read: ‘Mrs Ashley Kent.’
She said: ‘[The DVLA] needs to get with the times. If women don’t use “Dr” and aren’t professionals, they normally have to choose Mrs, Miss or Ms – they aren’t given an option.
‘I would really hope that people wouldn’t discriminate against me because my title is shown on my licence. I would hope they’d treat me the same whether I am a married or unmarried man or woman.
‘I can understand that there is a case for businesses... knowing if they are complying with equality regulations or not, but the fact that the DVLA doesn’t require this information for a man leads me to question why they need it for a woman. It’s just a hang up but it has to change.’
Mrs Roberts added: ‘What bothers me about titles in general – and I’ve had arguments with the bank about this – is that if my passport doesn’t require my title why should anyone else require it?
‘I think it is unfair to be labelled by a title. I am not a Miss [or] a Mrs and I don’t like Ms. I would prefer to have no title, which is why I chose that option. They claim they need to have my marital status to determine if I am male or female. My argument would be that if I were a professor or doctor, they wouldn’t know if I were either.’
Sam Smethers, of the Fawcett Society, a charity that campaigns for women’s rights, said: ‘Marital status has nothing to do with being able to drive or indeed most things.
‘Yet we feel the need to know if women are married or not. Let’s dispense with titles altogether.’
The DVLA yesterday said it was likely the titles had been added by mistake and urged both women to get in touch so their licences could be rectified.
‘It looks like it could be human error – there is nothing in our policy that treats women any differently to men,’ said a spokesman.