Women accuse DVLA of sexism over 'Mrs' on driving licence

Two female scientists have accused the DVLA of sexism for putting “Miss” or “Mrs” on their driving licence when men's licences don't carry the term.

Ashley Kent, 35, said she requested to have no title when she registered for a new licence following a change of address but when it arrived it said “Mrs”.

And her colleague, Elin Roberts, encountered the same issue and was told by the DVLA that her title “could not be removed”.

Ms Roberts, from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne had tweeted the DVLA account, writing: “Just received my new licence and it is wrong. I asked for no title on but it has come back with one on it. Can this be changed?”

The DVLA twitter account responded: “Hi, the purpose of the title is to allow the system to determine the male or female format of the driver number. I'm afraid it can't be removed.”

Ms Kent, also from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, told the Mail Online that she "couldn't believe" it when she noticed the difference between hers and her husband's documents.

“I would really hope that people wouldn't discriminate against me because my title is shown on my licence," she said. "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 or organisations knowing if they are complying with equality regulations or not but the fact is that the DVLA don't require this information for a man, leads me to question why they need it for a woman.”

Ms Roberts added: “My main gripe is that men don't have a title on their licences but women "must", I'm told. 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.”

But contrary to accusations a DVLA spokesman told the Standard it supports "giving customers choice" and said drivers are able to have no title on their documents if they wish.

He said: “We recognise the rights of individuals to be identified as they choose, including the use of the titles that do not indicate marital status such as Ms or not displaying any title on the licence.

“If a driver does not wish to have a title, they do not need to tick any title box”.