PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation measures to persons with disabilities.282 The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa provides that “discrimination on the basis of disability” includes denial of reasonable accommodation.283 In its concluding observations, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has made relevant recommendations to States.284 The European Court of Human Rights recognizes the provision of reasonable accommodation as forming part of the right to nondiscrimination on the grounds of disability,285 while under European Union law, the duty to accommodate has been conceived as a part of the principle of equal treatment.286 DEVELOPMENTS IN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT OF REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION While the duty to accommodate is most commonly invoked in the framework of disability discrimination, the concept has also been applied in respect of other grounds. In Canada, for example, the courts have recognized a legal duty to provide reasonable accommodation (inter alia) in respect of age, ethnic and racial origin, sex and gender.287 Following amendments made to the Human Rights Code of Ontario in 2012,288 the Ontario Human Rights Commission has clarified that the duty to accommodate also extends to the grounds of gender identity and gender expression.289 All accommodations provided must be “appropriate”, by ensuring: (a) respect for dignity; (b) individualization; (c) integration and full participation; and (d) inclusive design. Applying these principles, the Commission gives the following example: A fitness club member is in the process of transitioning to identifying publicly as a woman. She no longer feels it’s appropriate or safe to use the men’s change room but is not yet comfortable using the women’s change room. The club manager explores interim solutions with her, such as a privacy curtain or partition in the women’s or men’s shower and change areas, or access to private staff space. The club is also looking at more universally inclusive options for the future such as building an accessible privacy stall in each change room, and/or a universal single-user gender-neutral washroom with a shower and space for changing.290 The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief has written extensively on the importance of reasonable accommodation for the realization of the right to freedom of religion, noting that: “Policies of eliminating discrimination cannot be fully effective unless they also contemplate measures of reasonable accommodation.”291 In this context, reasonable accommodation is framed as a means to eliminate the indirectly discriminatory impact of a neutral policy or measure.292 Thus, for example, adaptations to 40 282 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Chinchilla Sandoval v. Guatemala, Judgment, 29 February 2016, paras. 215 and 219. See also the Separate Opinion of Judge Roberto F. Caldas. 283 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, art. 1. 284 See, for example, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, “Concluding observations and recommendations on the initial and combined periodic report of the Republic of Malawi on the implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1995–2013)” (Banjul, 2015), para. 132. 285 European Court of Human Rights, Çam v. Turkey, Application No. 51500/08, Judgment, 23 February 2016, paras. 65, 67 and 69. 286 Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, art. 5. 287 For a more detailed discussion on this point, see Emmanuelle Bribosia and Isabelle Rorive (European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field), Reasonable Accommodation Beyond Disability in Europe? (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2013), pp. 14–19, and the references cited therein. 288 Ontario, Canada, Toby’s Act (Right to be Free from Discrimination and Harassment Because of Gender Identity or Gender Expression), 2012. Similar amendments were made to the Human Rights Act of Canada in 2017, which applies in respect of federally regulated activities. See Canadian Human Rights Act, 1985. 289 Ontario Human Rights Commission, Policy on Preventing Discrimination Because of Gender Identity and Gender Expression (Ontario, 2014), sect. 8. 290 Ibid., sect. 8.2.5. 291 A/69/261, para. 71. 292 Ibid., para. 70.