A/HRC/41/34 environments and erode the quality of human relationships, bringing mistrust and disrespect into social life. Xenophobic rhetoric is particularly acute for people on the move in host countries, which further reflects complex social hierarchies and power relationships (see A/73/216). In many instances, xenophobia and intolerance interfere directly with the availability and accessibility of services to promote health, such as harm reduction and nonmedicalized services for people in extreme distress, as well as access to housing, education and work. Consequently, individuals and groups in vulnerable situations, such as people on the move, are discriminated against by law and in practice and are denied their right to mental health. 38. Respecting the diversity of human experience is crucial to ending discrimination, reducing power asymmetries and liberating the field of mental health from outdated policies and practices. States should support user- and peer-led movements, which help to demonstrate that human experiences that are considered unconventional represent just another form of human diversity and contribute to more tolerant, peaceful and just societies. H. Equality 39. Equality supports well-being and the promotion of the right to mental health in a number of important ways. Too often, the rights-based framing of determinants is limited, viewed only by how equality affects an individual health outcome: access to housing promotes the health outcomes of individuals and therefore advances the right to health. More work is needed to understand how the collective dimensions of the right to health not only promote individual health outcomes, but also embed a framework of equality that is not just of individual status but also creates equal opportunities and outcomes for certain groups and society as a whole. 40. Evidence on the mental health impact of equity contributes to a richer metric of what matters to well-being and the importance of the non-material dimensions of poverty, discrimination and deprivation. In other words, understanding the psychological and social experiences of persons in disadvantaged situations can point to protective factors that can make a positive contribution to individual and societal well-being.19 41. Inequality is a key obstacle to mental health globally. Many risk factors for poor mental health are closely associated with inequalities in the conditions of daily life. Many risk factors are also linked to the corrosive impact of seeing life as something unfair and the psychosocial impact of structural factors that consistently put some groups in a vulnerable situation. These factors include the criminalization of poverty and of certain behaviours, such as drug use, the demonization of certain types of challenging behaviour in troubled young people, the criminalization of sexual and reproductive health services for women, the criminalization of non-legal entry into countries, and discriminatory and coercive mental health systems. The outcomes of structural inequality not only have a negative individual impact, but are also detrimental to societal health, as they break down key protective factors, such as trust, social inclusion and the healthy development of young people. Reducing inequalities is a precondition for promoting mental health and for reducing key risk factors, such as violence, disempowerment and social exclusion. 42. Equality is a central element of an evolving human rights framework for promoting and protecting mental health. The profound and dynamic cause and effect relationship between mental health and inequalities compellingly suggests that mental health equity may be an especially important marker of social progress. Action on inequality is a human rights issue; it reflects a global injustice produced by entrenched power asymmetries. Given the deep connections between inequality and poor health, States are required to act on structural interventions far upstream, including in the political arrangements that allocate resources and enable (or restrict) the voices of those in the most marginalized situations. 19 See Lynne Friedli, Mental health, resilience and inequalities (Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2009). 9