Faith inclusion matters too: belonging has to include religion and belief


 Organisations often avoid religion and belief because they think it is too complicated. In practice, avoidance usually just leaves bias and exclusion unchallenged.

 'Avoiding faith does not create neutrality. It creates silence'.


 Faith inclusion is often neglected in EDI work because many organisations are more comfortable talking about some identities than others. Religion and belief can feel politically sensitive, culturally complicated or awkward to navigate. But that discomfort does not make the issue disappear. It simply means people are left to handle misunderstanding, silence or hostility on their own.

The legal protections are clear. In Great Britain, religion or belief is one of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Acas guidance makes clear that this covers religion, religious belief, philosophical belief and lack of religion or belief. Northern Ireland has separate equality protections covering religion and belief-related issues through its own legal framework.

The current context makes this even more urgent. In England and Wales, religious hate crime rose by 3% to 7,164 offences in the year ending March 2025, and anti-Muslim offences rose by 19% to 3,199. In February 2026, the government announced record funding of £73.4 million to help protect Jewish, Muslim and other faith sites. In Northern Ireland, faith and religion hate incidents and crimes both fell in the 12 months to December 2025, but the fact they continue to be recorded at all should remind employers and institutions that faith-related hostility is not hypothetical.

Faith inclusion is not difficult in principle. Review rotas, food, leave, prayer space, social events, dress expectations and line manager confidence. Make sure anti-harassment policies explicitly cover religion and belief. Most importantly, stop assuming secular organisational norms are naturally neutral. They are norms. And like any norms, they can exclude.


 Pathways to Equity can help your organisation build more confident, practical inclusion around religion and belief through policy, culture review and leadership support.

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