Summary
There are people of different gender identities and gender expressions living in our society, we are of all ages, with disabilities, of different racial or ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation. The population of working ages is just as diverse, with different skills, experiences, ideas and ways of seeing. The fact that everyone should be guaranteed equal opportunities to participate in education and the labour market and access to services is not only a question of protecting fundamental rights, or a moral decision, but an essential prerequisite for a sustainable society. The cohesion of society is influenced by the ability and willingness to value, support and implement diversity in the best way. Rait Maruste has said: “Over the last 50 years, Europe has moved steadily towards respecting and paying attention to human dignity and equal opportunities. For this purpose, both legislative drafting as well as administrative and judicial practice have been implemented. Ultimately, it is a question of the cohesion of society, so that everyone feels dignified and contented, that they do not feel unequally treated and bitter. Then people feel that society is fair to them and they are content.”[7]
Successful protection of the rights of individuals in court, better laws and their implementation are important, but it is also necessary that the issues of equal treatment are noticed on a daily basis. We hope that the third version of our handbook, along with many examples, helped to better understand the nature of discrimination, its occurrence and the possibility of avoidance.
As authors, we remain optimistic that many perceptions and stereotypes in society are already changing in a positive way and that the socio-economic, cultural and political environment is increasingly beginning to support tolerance and respect for everyone’s human dignity. This certainly does not happen on its own, but requires active and purposeful action both from lawyers and legal experts, NGOs and specialists in various fields, as well as officials and politicians.
[7] Paris.