A/HRC/21/42 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 16/2. It is focused on the links between stigma and the human rights framework as it relates to water and sanitation. 2. The Special Rapporteur has repeatedly encountered incidences of lack of access to water and sanitation, where people in particular groups are systematically neglected compared to the rest of society. Those in power appear to be indifferent to their problems, or in the worst case, to be under pressure from society as a whole not to take any measures to improve service provision. Decision makers at times deploy stigma to ―justify‖ their lack of political will to provide access to services for the marginalized, favouring policies that are popular in the broader society. The Special Rapporteur has been confronted with reluctance by decision makers to take action to overcome such neglect or exclusion, prompting her to examine these situations systematically. 3. The Special Rapporteur has found that stigma, as a deeply entrenched sociocultural phenomenon, lies at the root of many human rights violations, resulting in entire population groups being disadvantaged. It is so engrained that marked cases of human rights violations are perceived as ―acceptable‖. The Special Rapporteur seeks to shed light on the impact of stigma as the cause of neglect and exclusion in the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation and to explore recommendations for policymaking and appropriate solutions to address, prevent and respond to such human rights violations. 4. Stigma and discrimination are closely interrelated; they reinforce and legitimize each other. Stigma often lies at the root of discrimination; it is an antecedent to and a rationale for discrimination. It provides a ―justification‖, so that discrimination is seen as natural, necessary and desirable. Stigma plays an insidious role in making systemic discrimination possible. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has found that ―discrimination against some groups is pervasive and persistent and deeply entrenched in social behaviour and organization‖.1 5. Stigma gives rise not only to discrimination, but also to a range of other human rights violations, both of economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights, underscoring the indivisibility of all human rights. Where people are excluded from the use of facilities, where they find themselves unable to access public toilets and have no alternatives, or where people are threatened with violence and fear for their physical and mental integrity, this may result in violations of the human rights to water and sanitation and other related rights, inter alia, the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment or the right to privacy. 6. Identifying human rights violations as rooted in stigma demands an exploration of the origins of discrimination and other human rights violations. To start, speaking openly about what seems ―unmentionable‖ can act as an eye-opener, precisely because stigma is instrumental in propagating silence and imposing a culture of invisibility and shame, allowing human rights violations to continue unabated and with impunity. 7. The Special Rapporteur is aware that carelessly reporting attributes assigned to individuals and groups may, in fact, unintentionally further entrench the stigma wielded against them. To mitigate this risk, she uses quotation marks whenever she refers to such 1 General comment No. 20 (2009) on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, para. 12. 3