A/HRC/21/42 ascribed characteristics. Moreover, she believes that the benefits of speaking openly about the experience of stigma far outweigh these concerns. She considers it necessary to tackle the very topics masked by stigma, which are seen as uncomfortable or taboo. 8. At the same time, the focus on stigma limits the scope of the report. The report does not cover all groups that are disadvantaged in terms of access to water and sanitation. There are other, often heinous, forms of discrimination and other human rights violations that disadvantage certain individuals and groups. Indirect discrimination is also prohibited, that is, discriminatory actions that are not based on stigma, prejudices or stereotypes, but simply have an unintended discriminatory effect. Other forms of discrimination may be direct and deliberate, while not being based on stigma. The Special Rapporteur addresses many such situations in other areas of her work, but in the present report she focuses on violations of the human rights to water and sanitation emanating from stigmatization, enabling her to conduct a detailed analysis and identify appropriate response measures. 9. The scope of the report is guided by the Special Rapporteur‘s mandate: the human right to water and sanitation. Hence, it covers some experiences and manifestations of stigma rather than all dimensions of people‘s lives. The issues highlighted are only a few along a continuum of human rights concerns that stigmatized people face. Still, the Special Rapporteur believes that exploring the impacts of stigma through the lens of water, sanitation and hygiene highlights its pervasive nature in preventing people from leading a life in dignity. 10. To approach this work, the Special Rapporteur engaged in a wide consultative process, including an expert consultation held in Geneva in January 2012 with key individuals speaking on their own experience of stigma, civil society organizations, academia, international organizations and independent consultants. She also held a public consultation attended by over 80 participants, including more than 50 State delegations, and received about 50 written contributions. 2 These discussions have provided her with valuable guidance in preparing the present report, and she is grateful to all those who contributed. She also expresses her gratitude to the numerous people she has met over the past four years who have enabled her to understand the amplitude and dimensions of stigma. 11. In the report, the Special Rapporteur first seeks to convey an understanding of stigma and to elucidate its drivers. She links stigma explicitly to water, sanitation and hygiene before examining different manifestations of stigma. She situates stigma in the human rights framework considering, in particular, human dignity, the human rights to water and sanitation and other related rights, such as non-discrimination and equality, the prohibition of degrading treatment and the right to privacy. Based on this analysis, the Special Rapporteur seeks to identify appropriate strategies for preventing and responding to stigma, and concludes with a set of recommendations. II. Understanding stigma and its drivers 12. Stigma relates closely to power and inequality, and those with power can deploy it at will. Stigma can broadly be understood as a process of dehumanizing, degrading, discrediting and devaluing people in certain population groups, often based on a feeling of disgust. Put differently, there is a perception that ―the person with the stigma is not quite 2 4 Available from the website of the Special Rapporteur: www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/Contributionsstigmatization.aspx.