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Disabled people
Disability and the Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Equality and Human Rights Commission opened on 1 October 2007. The aim of the commission is to end discrimination and harassment of people because of their disability, age, religion/belief, race, gender, or sexual orientation.
About the commission
The new commission brings together the work of three former equality commissions:
- 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.
Benefits of the new commission
The government believes the new, single commission has many benefits, including:
- bringing together equality and human rights experts and acting as a single source of information and advice
- 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 court and tribunal cases
- tackling discrimination on every level - some people may face more than one type of discrimination
- having a 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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