Human Rights Act

Your Rights Are Protected By Law

Human Rights Act
Loi sur les droits de la personne

Human rights are based on the belief that every person is important and valuable and deserves to be treated with respect. When the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it declared that all human beings are “free and equal in dignity and rights”.

Some human rights are fundamental freedoms like the right to freedom of speech or freedom of religion. Other human rights protect people from unfair treatment because of personal qualities or the group they were born into; these are sometimes called “anti-discrimination” rights.

Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Harassment

In Nova Scotia discrimination means unfair treatment because of your ethnic, national or aboriginal origin, age, race, colour, religion, creed, sex (includes pregnancy, possibility of pregnancy and pregnancy-related illness), sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, an irrational fear of contracting an illness or disease, family status, marital status, source of income, political belief, affiliation or activity, as well as the individual’s association with another individual or class of individuals having characteristics referred to in all of the above.

Harassment is a form of discrimination. It includes comments, jokes, name-calling or behaviour or display of pictures that insult or offend you or put you down because of reasons listed above. Examples of sexual harassment include remarks, jokes about your body, physical appearance or clothing, displays of offensive pictures, unnecessary physical contact such as patting or pinching and sexual assault.

Watch out for different kinds of discrimination.

Discrimination can be quite open and obvious. It may take the form of an insult, rude service in a store or physical violence.

Open discrimination can be targeted at individuals, groups or communities of people. It can take the form of graffiti, racist jokes, or the denial of jobs, housing, or services.

Hidden discrimination is harder to spot. It is less direct - even invisible - but just as harmful. This type of discrimination can be done on purpose or it can be the result of a policy, practice or system as a way of keeping certain groups “on the outside”. One example is an employer who demands a certain level of education when the job does not require it. This requirement discriminates unfairly against persons who don’t have that education but are qualified for the job in all other ways.

The Act says you have the right to be free from discrimination and harassment at your workplace, in shops, restaurants, public transit, hospitals, schools, apartment buildings or hotels, or as a member of a union or professional associations, to name only a few.