FOREWORD Since the 1990s, calls for the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination laws have grown. People exposed to discrimination have come together to advocate for the enactment of comprehensive and effective equality laws. In some countries, these movements have succeeded; in others, the struggle goes on. United Nations human rights experts have echoed and amplified these calls. In the universal periodic review, States from all parts of the world have repeatedly recommended the adoption of these laws to their peers. These reform movements – whether led by civil society or by Governments – demonstrate a recognition that there can be no equality where there is discrimination and that we cannot eliminate discrimination without the enactment, enforcement and implementation of comprehensive and effective laws. Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws translate international legal commitments to equality into actionable and enforceable rights under national law. They provide the national legal framework necessary to define the various forms of discrimination; set out the personal and material scope of the rights to equality and non-discrimination; provide guidance on effective remedy; and establish the procedural safeguards required to secure justice for victims. They also establish in law positive duties to eliminate discrimination, to combat prejudice, stereotypes and stigma, and to advance equality. The law fulfils many roles, beyond simply setting out the rules and specifying what happens when rights are transgressed. The law also expresses our values; it articulates our norms and expectations. A propitious legal framework shapes our world for the better. Bad law, by contrast, or law that leaves gaps in protection, can shape societies for ill. Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws have the potential to be transformative. At the simplest level, these laws can foster positive change by increasing understanding of discrimination, stimulating action to prevent it, and ultimately fostering a commitment to eliminate it. Those exposed to discrimination gain the tools to challenge the treatment that they have experienced and to secure remedy for the harms that they have suffered. Duty bearers are held to account and respond by putting in place procedures to prevent discriminatory acts, policies and practices. Over time, these changes have the potential to increase the representation and visibility of marginalized groups and so contribute to changed behaviour and ultimately shifts in social norms. Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws also mandate and provide a framework for positive measures to foster equality. Pursuant to these laws, public and private actors throughout the world have taken a wide range of positive measures. Authorities have worked to render the common spaces of society accessible to persons with physical, mobility or sensory impairments. Employers have identified disparities in their workforce and have established programmes to increase participation by national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities and other groups exposed to discrimination. Governments have adopted public education programmes to combat prejudice, stereotypes and stigma. This list could go on. Discussions of the value to the legal order of comprehensive anti-discrimination laws – and of the obligation to adopt them – pose a range of questions. Some of these questions are technical, some are conceptual, some are practical. The guide is an attempt – working in collaboration with recognized experts from across the globe – to answer the questions most often raised by government officials, parliamentarians, members of national human rights institutions, human rights defenders and grass-roots community activists as to how best to translate the essential elements of the rights to non-discrimination and equality into their national law. The United Nations, national human rights institutions, and civil society organizations, such as the Equal Rights Trust, are often called upon to assist and advise governments, legislators and policymakers in the process of developing these comprehensive laws. To date, no clear, comprehensive and authoritative guidance has existed to respond to such requests. The present guide fills that gap. Based on an exhaustive analysis of international law and extensive consultations with experts from across the globe, it provides clear, unequivocal guidance on the laws which States must adopt in order to fulfil their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to equality and non-discrimination. vii