INTRODUCTION the course of their daily lives, and an administration that has taken seriously these problems and established legal means to address them. Thus, done correctly, comprehensive anti-discrimination laws offer people a practical and tangible framework for taking action to vindicate their rights when they believe that these have been violated. Throughout the world, in situations in which States have adopted such laws, it has increased the ability of those affected by discrimination to seek and secure remedy. For example, in July 2004, a court in Sofia issued the first decision under the country’s comprehensive anti-discrimination law, which had entered into force in January that year. The court ordered a company to pay non-material damages equivalent to $300 dollars to the complainant, Sevda Nedkova Nanova, a Roma woman from Sofia. The court found that Ms. Nanova had been subjected to direct discrimination when an assistant at the company’s sock shop had refused to serve her and had forced her to leave the shop, in the process calling her humiliating racial epithets.9 Beyond the damages awarded to Ms. Nanova, the decision sent an important signal that discrimination was prohibited and would be subject to sanction under the new law. Other examples abound. In the Republic of Moldova, the Council on the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring Equality, established under the country’s 2012 comprehensive anti-discrimination law, has ruled in favour of linguistic minorities on a number of occasions, including by ordering public bodies to publish their websites in Romanian and Russian.10 In South Africa, one of the first States to adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, a 25-year-old women from a township outside Durban used the law to challenge and overturn a ban on women wearing trousers imposed by an edict of community leaders.11 Beyond the positive impact on individuals and communities arising from litigation and the decisions of courts, comprehensive anti-discrimination laws benefit minorities and other marginalized communities in myriad other ways. In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, for example, the enactment of comprehensive anti-discrimination law has resulted in increased political participation by indigenous peoples and the redistribution of land among other improvements,12 while in the United Kingdom, equality duties under the Equality Act 2010 have caused local authorities to act to identify and eliminate barriers to educational attainment for children from minority ethnic and religious communities.13 In addition to the clear and direct benefits for individual people and communities, the adoption and implementation of comprehensive anti-discrimination laws has created opportunities to advance inclusion of minorities and marginalized groups, foster diversity and representation, and ensure equal participation for those at risk of being left behind. Indeed, while the enforcement of such legislation typically focuses on sanctioning and remedying specific acts of discrimination, such enforcement can also contribute positively to challenging stereotypes. The implementation of anti-discrimination laws can enable the public at large to learn about the challenges faced by persons who experience discrimination. As such laws become a vivid part of the national legal order, they can help to end discourses of powerlessness and vulnerability, by supporting stigmatized and excluded people and groups to act against unequal treatment. Ultimately, continuous and widespread enforcement will lead to changes in policy and practice, removing barriers and increasing participation for marginalized or stigmatized persons and groups, and so increasing diversity, understanding and tolerance. Thus, in country after country worldwide, the adoption and effective implementation of comprehensive antidiscrimination laws has led to genuine social change and advances in a culture of peace, mutual respect and understanding. 9 For further discussion of the case, see Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, “Sofia City Court convicts company of ethnic discrimination against Roma” (2004). 10 See, for example, Council on the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring Equality of the Republic of Moldova, Case No. 36/218, Decision, 2 August 2018 (available at http://egalitate.md/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Decizie_constatare_36_2018.pdf); and Case No. 37/18, Decision, 23 August 2018 (available at http://egalitate.md/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Decizie_constatare_37_2018.pdf). 11 Emily N. Keehn, “The equality courts as a tool for gender transformation”, 2010. Available at https://escholarship.org/content/ qt1ms61553/qt1ms61553_noSplash_a09f8d08d80f6b092e02247da12ca35e.pdf. 12 Comunidad de Derechos Humanos and Equal Rights Trust, Balance de la Implementación de la Ley Contra el Racismo y Toda Forma de Discriminación: Ley No. 045 (La Paz, 2020). 13 See, for example, a case study on Tower Hamlets by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. See www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/ advice-and-guidance/individual-benefits. xxv