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Disabled people

Disabled People

Disability and the Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Equality and Human Rights Commission opened for business on 1 October 2007. A key aim of the commission is to end discrimination and harassment of people because of their disability, age, religion or belief, race, gender, or sexual orientation.

The new commission brings together the work of three former equality commissions. They were the:

  • Disability Rights Commission
  • Commission for Racial Equality
  • Equal Opportunities Commission

The Disability Rights Commission, together with the other two commissions, closed on 28 September 2007.

The Equality and  Human Rights Commission has a disability committee to lead the commission's work on disability. It is chaired by Baroness Jane Campbell.

Why a single commission?

The government believes a single commission has many benefits, including:

  • bringing together equality and human rights experts and acting as a single source of information and advice (instead of the previous separate organisations)
  • being a single point of contact for individuals, businesses and the voluntary and public sectors
  • helping businesses by promoting awareness of equality issues, which may prevent costly court and tribunal cases
  • tackling discrimination on multiple levels - some people may face more than one type of discrimination
  • giving older people a powerful national body to tackle age discrimination

Contacting the Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has a helpline where you can get information and guidance on discrimination and human rights issues.

You can contact it by telephone, text phone, letter, email or fax.

There are different helpline offices for England, Wales and Scotland. You can find the contact details on the commission's website.

Northern Ireland has a separate commission, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

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