A/HRC/19/41 VI. Discriminatory practices 48. The Human Rights Committee has urged State parties to “guarantee equal rights to all individuals, as established in the Covenant, regardless of their sexual orientation.”84 States have a “legal obligation … to ensure to everyone the rights recognized by the Covenant … without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” 85 Both the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have called regularly on States to enact laws prohibiting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and have welcomed legislation that includes sexual orientation among the prohibited grounds of discrimination. 86 49. Explicit constitutional guarantees of protection from discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation apply in six countries, 87 while in several others such guarantees are incorporated into regional or provincial-level constitutions.88 In other countries (including Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong (China), India and Nepal), general language on nondiscrimination has been interpreted by courts as providing equivalent protection. 50. Discriminatory practices persist in all regions. Sometimes, Government policies have a direct discriminatory impact; in other cases, the absence of applicable national laws facilitates discrimination by private actors. The section below examines several areas where individuals are particularly susceptible to discriminatory treatment, marginalization and restrictions on enjoyment of rights because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is not exhaustive: areas of concern not addressed here include discrimination in access to justice, housing and social benefits, and discriminatory dress codes that restrict men dressing in a manner perceived as feminine and women dressing in a manner perceived as masculine, and punish those who do.89 A. Discrimination in employment 51. Under international human rights law, States are obligated to protect individuals from any discrimination in access to and maintenance of employment. The Committee on 84 85 86 87 88 89 16 See the Committee‟s concluding observations on Chile (CCPR/C/CHL/CO/5), para. 16. See also its concluding observations on San Marino (CCPR/C/SMR/CO/2), para. 7, and Austria (CCPR/C/AUT/CO/4), para. 8. See the Committee‟s concluding observations on the United States of America (CCPR/C/USA/CO/3), para. 25. See for example the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on El Salvador (CCPR/C/SLV/CO/6), para. 3 (c); Greece (CCPR/CO /83/GRC), para. 5; Finland (CCPR/CO/82/FIN), para. 3 (a); Slovakia (CCPR/CO/78/SVK), para. 4; the concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on Cyprus (E/C.12/1/Add.28), para. 7; and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Dependent Territories (E/C.12/GBR/CO/5), para. 6. Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Ecuador, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland. Argentina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Germany and Kosovo (Serbia). See ILGA, “State-sponsored homophobia” (see footnote 68), p. 13. See, for example, the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on the Russian Federation (CCPR/C/RUS/CO/6), para. 27, and Japan (CCPR/C/JPN/CO/5), para. 29; the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Uganda (CEDAW/C/UGA/CO/7), paras. 43-44, and the Russian Federation (CEDAW/C/USR/CO/7), paras. 40-41; and Human Rights Committee general comment No. 34 (CCPR/C/GC/34), para. 12. See also A/HRC/4/25, para. 21; E/CN.4/2005/43, para. 63, E/CN.4/2006/118, para. 30, A/HRC/4/18/Add.2, para. 125, A/HRC/7/16, para. 39, A/HRC/10/7/Add.3, para. 50; E/CN.4/2003/58, para. 68, E/CN.4/2004/49, para. 38; and E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.1, paras. 232-234.