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Equality is all about the fact that everyone is equal. This includes everyone no matter what gender, national origin, sexuality, language or age they are; what social origin or ethnic group they are from, if they are refugees or asylum seekers, what beliefs or opinions (such as religious belief or political opinion) they have, or whether they are disabled or not. Everyone is equal. Equality therefore aims to ensure that all opportunities are genuinely available and accessible to all, and that any initiatives or actions being delivered or developed do not have a negative impact on any disadvantaged groups. Buildings and public transport should have access for disabled people, people of different colour or ethnic groups are entitled to the same level of services as others and that everyone is entitled to be safe and kept from harm. Everyone has rights, which includes the right to be treated the same and not excluded or discriminated against. The first step in doing this comes down to an awareness of equality issues, what prejudice exists against certain groups of people and the belief that, because everyone is equal, everyone has the right to equality. People who pick on others, bully, victimise and carry out hate crimes and discriminate against someone based upon ideas of colour, religion, sexuality, gender or age are ill-informed and have very bad information and ideas that aren’t realistic. There is no argument or comment that can ever be made in support of discrimination against another human being, whether it is racist, homophobic, sexist, ageist or whatever. How to find out more about equality issues? To find out more about equality and what it means to you, your family and everyone in society you can open the downloads and visit the web links below. There are several organisations, both nationally and internationally, who work to improve equality issues and give advice about what equality means and how people can help improve their understanding. A key contact for young people in the city is the Brighton & Hove Youth Council. They can give you more information and show you how you can help improve equality issues for young people in the city. Brighton & Hove Youth Council 11 Queen Square Tel: (01273) 293631 Youth Council Hotline (01273) 295464 Alternatively speak to your school/college, teacher, connexions PA, youth worker or visit the one of the young people’s advice centres in the city, such as the Youth Advice Centre, Young People’s Centre or Safe and Sorted and ask for more information. See the ‘Map of Services’ for their contact details.
Email: equalities@brighton-hove.gov.uk Downloads The other pages in this section give you more information about different equality issues such as ‘Young People’, ‘LGBT’, ‘BME’, ‘Refugees & Asylum Seekers’, ‘Disabilities & Special Needs’ and ‘Religious Respect’. You can also see downloads on the ‘Your Rights’ page for more information about your fundamental human rights and the rights that all children and young people are entitled to. Links www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk/ The Equalities Review has been established to carry out an investigation into the causes of persistent discrimination and inequality in British society. The Equal Opportunities Commission work to promote a range of issues relating to people's equality, such as sex discrimination, disability, racism etc. www.childrenscommissioner.org/ The Children's Commissioner for England works to promote the views and interests of children and young people in England. The Brighton and Hove City Council website can provide information about equalities and put young people in touch with the Council's Equality Team. Th United Nations website can provide information about the UN Declaration of Human Rights and all sort of other issues relating to people's rights. CRAE is an alliance of over 370 voluntary and statutory organisations committed to the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. They seek the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights instruments, and that all children should be respected as individual people and should be treated as full and equal members of society. Amnesty International is a world wide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognised human rights. Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the rights of people around the world. The Disability Rights Commission work to create a society where all disabled people can participate fully as equal citizens. |
