A/HRC/34/26 discrimination that cannot be derogated from in any circumstances”, an aspect that would require further analysis by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 9. International and regional human rights law and domestic law have contributed to the development of the notion of equality and to the identification of different forms of discrimination. Current standards go beyond the promotion of formal equality, which requires that similarly situated persons be treated equally. International human rights law endorses a vision of substantive equality, “a real transformation of opportunities, institutions and systems so that they are no longer grounded in historically determined [discriminatory] paradigms”. 5 In order to achieve substantive equality, “special measures” that favour specific right-holders over others were first reflected as a tool in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 10. International human rights law identifies different forms of discrimination. Discrimination can be direct or indirect, structural, or affect specific individuals. At the same time, discrimination can be based on more than one forbidden ground, entailing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. 6 III. Equality and non-discrimination under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities A. Equality 11. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities supersedes previous international developments, such as the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities or the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities. Nowadays, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities represents the most advanced international human rights instrument on the rights of persons with disabilities. 12. The Convention expands previous human rights standards to ensure the exercise of all human rights for persons with disabilities, and explicitly includes in its principles equality and non-discrimination, which underpin all of its provisions. It develops substantive equality for persons with disabilities starting from article 5 (1), which includes both equality of opportunities and equality of outcomes.7 It requires the transformation of existing social structures, systems and conceptions, such as ableism, 8 that perpetuate discrimination against persons with disabilities. 13. According to the Convention, State parties must reform and develop legal frameworks and policies to ensure equality for persons with disabilities, in this process consulting closely with and actively involving persons with disabilities through their representative organizations. Attitude barriers prevent respect for the equality of persons with disabilities. The Convention, under article 8, provides for measures to combat stereotyping and to promote positive perceptions of persons with disabilities, which contribute to promote respect towards difference and acceptance of human diversity. Achieving substantive equality requires the elimination of barriers, including physical and 5 6 7 8 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 25 (2004) on temporary special measures, para. 10. Ibid., para. 12. See also general recommendation No. 28, paras. 18 and 26. See Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 3 (2016), para. 9. A/71/314, para. 31. 5