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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 is a merger of three separate equality commissions. These are 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.

Why a single commission?

The government believes a single commission will have many benefits, including:

  • bringing together equality 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 commission has a dedicated disability helpline:

Equality and Human Rights Commission Disability Helpline

FREEPOST MID02164

Stratford upon Avon

CV37 9BR

Telephone: 08457 622 633

Textphone: 08457 622 644

The helpline is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9am-5pm; Wednesday 8am-8pm.

Fax: 08457 778 878

Email: info@equalityhumanrights.com

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