Beneficiaries of ESC Rights

Article 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) provides that ESC rights are to be enjoyed and exercised “without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Certain groups (below) suffer disproportionately when ESC rights are violated. Effective defense of ESC rights therefore requires disaggregating experiences and mainstreaming the following marginalized groups, amongst others, into social justice initiatives.