CRPD/C/GC/6 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Distr.: General 26 April 2018 Original: English Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities General comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and nondiscrimination* I. Introduction 1. The aim of the present general comment is to clarify the obligations of States parties regarding non-discrimination and equality as enshrined in article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 2. The Committee is concerned that the laws and policies of States parties still approach disability through charity and/or medical models, despite the incompatibility of those models with the Convention. The persistent use of such paradigms fails to acknowledge persons with disabilities as full subjects of rights and as rights holders. In addition, the Committee notes that the efforts by States parties to overcome attitudinal barriers to disability have been insufficient. Examples include enduring and humiliating stereotypes, and stigma of and prejudices against persons with disabilities as being a burden on society. In response, it is critical that persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, play a central role in the development of legal and policy reforms. 3. The broadening of anti-discrimination laws and human rights frameworks has led to extended protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in many States parties. Nevertheless, laws and regulatory frameworks often remain imperfect and incomplete or ineffective, or reflect an inadequate understanding of the human rights model of disability. Many national laws and policies perpetuate the exclusion and isolation of and discrimination and violence against persons with disabilities. They often lack a recognition of multiple and intersectional discrimination or discrimination by association; fail to acknowledge that the denial of reasonable accommodation constitutes discrimination; and lack effective mechanisms of legal redress and reparation. Such laws and policies are commonly not regarded as disability-based discrimination because they are justified as being for the protection or care of the persons with a disability, or in their best interest. II. Equality for and non-discrimination against persons with disabilities in international law 4. Equality and non-discrimination are among the most fundamental principles and rights of international human rights law. Because they are interconnected with human dignity, they are the cornerstones of all human rights. In its articles 1 and 2, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that everyone is equal in dignity and rights, and condemns discrimination on a non-exhaustive number of grounds. * Adopted by the Committee at its nineteenth session (14 February–9 March 2018). GE.18-06662(E) 

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